Life After War
by question-mark007
Summary: The war is over. Life and love must go on. This is what I think happened in the those 19 years between the Final Battle and Albus Potter's first day of Hogwarts. The rating is for later chapters.
1. The Mystery Woman

_**Enough Trouble for a lifetime**_

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down the spiral staircase of Dumbledore's office, not talking, just simply being thankful that they had made it to the end of the war alive.

"Harry, I think I should go to the Great Hall. My family needs me." Ron said.

"Alright, do whatever you need to. I'm going to the dormitory; I'm exhausted." Harry replied.

"Harry, I'm going with Ron. Are you going to be alright by yourself?" Hermione said, looking concerned. Harry nodded, to be honest he didn't know what the answer was, all he knew was that he needed sleep. With that, Harry dragged himself to the Gryffindor common room. He didn't need the password, as no one was concerned with students in other houses' common rooms. He slowly ascended the staircase to the boy's dormitory and collapsed on his bed. He was asleep before he could remove his trainers or glasses.

The next thing Harry knew, he was being shaken lightly on the shoulder.

"Harry"

"Harry!"

"Come on Harry! Wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes slowly. He was face to face with Ron and Hermione.

"Morning" he said grudgingly.

"Try 'afternoon' Harry" Ron said smiling slightly.

"Afternoon? Are you serious? How long have I been asleep?" Harry said, his brain moving rather slowly.

"About 16 hours" Hermione remarked

"Impressive. So what'd I miss?"

Hermione shot a nervous look at Ron who immediately took over.

"Well, Mum nearly went mental when you came up here because she, well to be honest I'm not sure why she went mental. We where all mourning Fred and doing some planning for his funeral. Everyone's in hell, mate. We all miss him and we're not leaving George by himself so, according to Bill, he can't do something that would make us even _more _depressed. If you catch my drift. Ginny's not talking. She's down in the common room and glances towards the boys dormitory ever few minutes or so." Harry sat up a little straighter as Ron continued, "We've mostly forgiven Percy. And there's someone in the common room who wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Harry questioned, mind racing.

"I dunno, but she's carrying a baby." Ron shrugged

"Harry, you should go clean yourself up, then see what she wants." Hermione suggested.

"Okay. Tell her I'll be down in about 10 minutes, will you?"

They nodded and left him to make himself presentable for the stranger.

A shower and a shave later, Harry made his way to the common room. Truth be told, he had a hunch on who the mystery woman was but didn't want to say anything to Ron and Hermione so they would leave her alone and wouldn't ask him to many questions. He stood at the door leading to the dormitory, watching the Weasleys, who where sitting by the fire. George sat between Percy and Charlie while Fleur sat on Bill's lap. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat talking quietly to Ron and Hermione. Ginny sat on the floor staring at the fire. She glanced at the door to the boys' dormitory and saw Harry watching them. Their eyes locked for a moment before Hermione saw him and ran over.

"Harry! We were wondering when you'd be coming down. Come on." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to where the Weasley's where.

"Harry dear, how are you? You look a bit peaky. Have you been to Madam Pomfrey?" Mrs. Weasley asked in rapid succession.

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley" he replied, then turning to Ron and Hermione, he said, "Where is she?"

Ron jerked his head in the direction of a far corner of the common room. Harry looked in the direction indicated by Ron and felt his stomach drop. There in the far corner of the common room, holding a little bundle of blankets was none other than Andromeda Tonks.


	2. Pouring Your Heart Out

Harry swallowed. He couldn't believe his eyes. _What the hell is she doing here?! Why does she want to talk to me? _Then it hit him: his godson. _Of course! She's here because, other than her, I'm all Teddy has._

"Harry?" Hermione's voice interrupted his internal monologue.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Do you recognize her? She looks an awful lot like Bellatrix Lestrange. Do you think they're related?" she asked?

"Yeah," he said distracted, "they're sisters...or where sisters." He shook his head, trying to clear it before walking over to where Andromeda was sitting.

"Mrs. Tonks?" harry said, trying to be as polite as possible.

"What? Oh hello Harry. How are you?" she responded, slightly flustered.

"I'm fine," he said. He noted how that seemed to be his automatic response to that question, regardless of the truth.

"Hogwash," she stated, "I recently lost my whole family, with the exception of Teddy here, but I know that you are most certainly NOT fine. Now do not insult my intelligence or my parenting skills. Tell me the truth."

Harry was taken aback. No one had ever called him out like that before. He knew what she said was true so he decided to do something he rarely ever did: say what he felt.

"Alright, fair enough," he started, "I'm not sure how I feel. I'm confused, tired, and grieving. Then there's the survivor's guilt and that I'm happy that it's over but I'm in hell because of the people who we lost. I also feel like its all my fault, like if I could have just ended it sooner they'd still be alive. Not to mention that I gave up EVERYTHING I had going for me so I could fight this war and now what am I going to do now its over? Then there's the inj-" He stopped talking when he realized that Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley where standing behind him.

"Umm.. so how long have you been standing there?" he asked not looking anyone in the eye, he had just poured his heart out (something he was strongly against).

"Harry, do really feel that way?" and "long enough" were their answers.

Hermione, however, looked thoughtful. After a few akward seconds, she said "what where you saying when you noticed we where here?"

"Nothing" now he was getting uncomfortable; this was a dangorus road to go down.

She was about to reply when Ginny spoke, looking him directly in the eye.

"Harry, its not your fault. None of it is. The only death that is your fault is Voldemort's. No one blames you for any of it."

Harry sighed. _Might as well bite the bullet on this one_, he thought.

"I know no one blames me, but I was raised in a world where everything bad thing that happened was my fault. Like if my cousin got bad marks in school, it was my fault. So then I'd get punished. And trust me when I say that you do not want to know what the punishments where." He told them as quickly as possible, so as not to be interrupted.

"Right, Harry, I wanted to talk to you about Teddy. Now by law you are his rightful guardian and my do with him what you wish. I, unfortunetly, have no say in the matter. I will, however, give suggestions, like-" Harry cut her off saying: "Mrs. Tonks, I think it'd be best if you continued to care for him. I would like to take care of him, but as I'm not really the parent-type, I think it'd be best if I just babysit sometime."

"that would be great Harry. I want him to grow up with a father figure, you know, someone to be a role modle" she smiled.

"I'll do my best" Harry said grinning, "now I'm starving, lets go get some food."


	3. Injuries

**Ok, so I'm sorry about the last chapter. It's not one of my favorites but its important to the story so there's not much I can do. **

**Disclaimer: If I was JKR then I wouldn't have ended the series on an 'I want a sandwich' note. **

The group entered the nearly deserted Great Hall and walked over to the Gryffindor table. Mrs. Weasley started busying herself by loading everyone's plates and fussing over the appearances of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Really, you all look like you haven't eaten in years!" she complained.

"Especially you Harry, you look horrible. You really should go see Madam Pomfrey" Ginny noted.

"Thanks a lot Ginny, and I really am fine." Harry said exasperated.

"Actually Harry, I don't think it would be such a bad idea. Look! There she is now. Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione called.

"Hermione, honestly! Don't-" harry started, but was interrupted by the arrival of the school matron.

"Yes Ms. Granger? What do you need?" she inquired.

"Its Harry. He thinks he doesn't need medical attention, when we all know that's a complete and utter lie." Hermione told her, glaring at Harry, who glared back.

"Hermione! For the tenth time: I'm fine. There is NOTHING wrong with me." he said. He was starting to get very annoyed.

"Alright then Harry, if you're fine then why are you limping?" Hermione said smugly. Harry froze. He knew it was true, but the last thing he wanted was to have it healed in front of everyone. He'd rather just suffer until it healed on its own.

"Well Mr. Potter, it looks like you've lost this battle. So which ankle is it?" Madam Pomfrey smiled

"The left one, and that's it." Harry said firmly.

"Harry, don't be stupid. She can probably heal your scars if you want." Hermione said as if explaining to a child that one plus one equals two.

"Do you mean this scar, Hermione?" he said indicating the scar on his chest, just over his heart. "Because that one cant be healed; it's been there for too long."

"Aww, little Harry has a broken heart" Bill and Ron snickered.

"It's not exactly funny Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter, let me see the scar please," the matron ordered.

"Madam Pomfrey, I really don't think that's such a good i-" Harry started, glancing at all the people who surrounded him.

"Now, Mr. Potter" she said firmly. Sensing he had no choice, he obliged.

"Hmm…I think you might be right; this cannot be healed by magic, only time." She said.

"Told you, Hermione, now, can I put my shirt back on now?" he asked.

"Yes, I think that—wait a moment, what is this?" she asked pointing at the large purple and black bruise that covered a good portion of his chest.

"Well, when Voldemort hit me with the killing curse last night, that's where it hit me. That's also where, while I was playing dead, he hit me with the Cruciatus Curse to humiliate me in front of his Death Eaters and threw me in the air then against the ground…come to think of it, that must have been when I broke my ankle…" Harry told them.

"That's horrible, Harry." Ginny said looking like she was about to burst into tears. Under the table, Harry took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before remembering that they had broken up and let go.

"Yes it is, Ms. Weasley and, Mr. Potter, if you don't mind I think that the minister and myself would like to hear the whole story." Said Professor McGonagall, who had appeared, unnoticed, with Kingsley.

"Professor that could get a lot of people in a lot of trouble. We didn't have a choice, but we occasionally had to break laws." Harry said apprehensively, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell any one what they had been through.

"There will be no penalty for any broken laws; we will simple forget the laws that may or may not have been broken. Agreed?" Kingsley said in his deep calming voice.

"Agreed" Harry sighed, "can the Weasleys come listen in too? They deserve this as much as you do," he added as an after thought.

"Whatever you want Harry; its not my place to stop you" the minister replied. Harry nodded in response.

"Good, now that that's settled, shall we go up to my office to hear this without the fear of being overheard by eavesdroppers?" professor McGonagall said. And so they made their way out of the Great Hall. No sooner had they reached the Entrance Hall than George and Percy joined them. Andromeda said good bye and that she needed to get home to put Teddy down for a nap. On the way to the gargoyle that protects the headmistress's office, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussed where they would start the story and what they would say.

**It will get better I promise! But you know what they say 'things have to get worse be for they can get better.' Ok so you've read it now tell me what you think.**


	4. Story Time

**Disclaimer: I'm not JKR; if I was, Fred would still be alive.**

As they reached the gargoyle, Professor McGonagall said the password 'Victory' and they proceeded to go up the spiral staircase.

"Harry, if you will" McGonagall gestured to the center of the room once they were all settled.

"Well, I guess I'll start with the prophecy" he began, rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to calm himself.

"You know about the Hall of Prophecy and about the prophecy, but I'm the only person who knows the exact wording of it: _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...._ the power is love and you can figure the rest out on your own" Harry paused to catch his breath.

"Harry, you never told us about the 'power the Dark Lord knows not'" Hermione said, sounding hurt.

"Hermione, imagine being 15 and you've just seen your godfather die and its your fault. Then you're told that you're going to kill or be killed and that the power that's supposed to keep you alive is love. How many people would you tell?" Harry countered. She fell silent, so he continued.

He told them about Voldemort's childhood and about the horcruxes. When it came time for him to name them, Hermione pulled the ones they had from the beaded bag. He carefully chose his words when he told them that Tom Riddle's diary was one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny go pale and burry her face in her hands.

He then told them about what happened when they left the wedding and infiltrating the ministry. Mr. Weasley shifted uncomfortably when Harry told them that he had impersonated Runcorn, as he had yelled at Runcorn that day. He 'forgot' to mention that he had looked at Mr. Weasley's file. From that point on, Ron and Hermione would interrupt to add their own opinions, comments, or to add something that Harry had not mentioned. Harry tried as much as possible to add bits of humor to his tale so as not to make it seem like a horror story.

As expected when they found out about Ron leaving Harry and Hermione, Ginny openly glared at Ron, who was refusing to look anyone in the eye. Harry told them about Godric's Hollow and Ron's return, skating over what the horcrux had said to Ron. He told them about the incident at the Lovegoods' house. He told them about the Deathly Hallows and Malfoy Manner. Then about Shell Cottage and planning to break into Gringotts. Finally about the break in and what happened during the Final Battle. He shocked everyone in the room with the true colors of Snape. He even told them about how Snape and Lily had been friends. He quietly told them about what happened in the forest and why he had to play dead. He ended his story by apologizing for not telling them this from the beginning and for any pain that he had caused them. Mrs. Weasley had started crying at some point during the time Harry was talking. The room sat in silence for a moment before Kingsley spoke.

"Harry, I appreciate you telling us this and I will assure the ministry that any laws broken where unavoidable and for the good of mankind." He said, kindly. Harry nodded in response, as his voice was nearly gone from talking so much.

"I think that it would be wise to go get some food, seeing as we have been here for over 5 hours" Professor McGonagall said. So they went back to the Great Hall, speaking in hushed tones about all that had been revealed. Mrs. Weasley while was attacking Harry in a massive hug, while Ginny pulled Hermione aside.

"When did you and Ron come to your senses?" Ginny asked

"I don't know what you're talking about" she said slowly turning red.

"Well, it's just that you've been holding hands and grinning like idiots when ever you look at each other." Ginny said smiling.

"Well, if you must know I kissed him the night of the battle and when we talked afterwards we realized that we had both been idiots and as Ron said 'why put off the inevitable?'" Hermione said very fast. Ginny smiled and continued to head to the Great Hall when Hermione said something that made her freeze.

"What'd you say?" Ginny asked

"I asked what about you and Harry?" Hermione replied smirking.

"What about me and Harry?" she said slowly.

"Oh come on Ginny! You know full well what!" Hermione replied

"Nothing's happened. He held my hand for about a second and a half but then McGonagall and Kingsley showed up…" Ginny said not bothering to hide her disappointment.

"I'll bet that he'll say something before the weeks up. He missed you, and you didn't hear this from me but he used to get out the Marauder's Map to stare at you name…I think it helped him know that you were ok and that he had made the right choice. I know that it was a very hard one for him to make" Hermione said knowingly.

"Thanks Hermione, I needed to hear that" Ginny gave her a small smile.

"Hey Ginny, Hermione are you coming? Mrs. Weasley's about to send out a search party to look you." Harry laughed.

"We're coming harry. We where just talking" Ginny said evasively, turning red. Harry arched an eyebrow at Hermione, who shook her head walked in the Great Hall. _Wow, girls are confusing. They're crying one second and laughing the next. _Harry thought, shaking his head before following the girls to the Great Hall.

**Please review!!**

**Interactive story time!!**

**Any ideas on how Harry and Ginny should get back together?**


	5. The Conversation

As it was nearly ten at night, the group ate quickly and then went to bed. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny normally would have stayed up and talked about the day's events, but no one wanted to mess with Mrs. Weasley at the moment. Harry lay in bed that night thinking. He knew that he missed Ginny and that he wanted to be with her more than anything in the world, but he just didn't know how to go about it.

_What if she doesn't like me any more?_

_What if she's moved on?_

_Maybe she's mad at me for leaving her..._

These thoughts kept running through his mind, each time adding to his uncertainty and fears. Then it came to him: ask Hermione. It was originally against his better judgment, as he was against asking for help of any kind. He knew she'd help and that he could take her smug smile and her 'I told you so's'(she had repeatedly told him he had been stupid, breaking up with Ginny). Besides, who better to give him advice on Ginny than her best friend? Now the only question was when to ask her. Tomorrow on the way to the Burrow, he would ask her to help him locate something and ask her then. Pleased with his plan, Harry rolled over and fell asleep.

The next morning after breakfast, Gryffindor tower was in chaos. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione where preparing to go to the Burrow. Harry was overjoyed to be going back to the place that had been his second home for so long. After everyone was ready, Harry went up to where Ginny, Hermione, and Fleur where talking in hushed tones.

"Um…Hermione I cant find my invisibility cloak, can you help me find it?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, uh sure Harry…where did you last see it?" she asked, turning and walking with him.

Once they where out of earshot, she turned to him, "Alright, what do you really want?"

"Advice" he said, nervously.

"On…?" Hermione asked with a knowing glint in her eye.

"Ginny" Harry answered, looking down at his feet.

"okay, you're going to have to give me more information than that," she said

"Well, I know she still likes you and that it's killing her to stay away from you" she said patiently.

"How do I get her back?" he said, nearly begging.

"Why don't you do what you did last time?" Hermione smiled.

"What? Snog her in front of everyone? I'm sure her brothers would _love_ that. I was kind of hoping I could just ask her, but I don't know what to say." Harry said sarcastically.

"Then ask her to take you back, just don't do it with her brothers around. I think they might have a stroke if they heard you ask her." Hermione replied, shaking her head.

"That might work, but when?" he said, starting to getting his hopes up.

"After dinner at the Burrow. You, Ginny, Ron, and I will go for a walk. I'll distract Ron and leave you two alone and you can do it then. Alright?" Hermione responded, a plan formulating in her brain.

"Works for me" he said, "and Hermione? Thanks"

With that they headed to the Burrow to attend the funerals of the deceased. Harry was so nervous that he couldn't look any one in the eye, and he couldn't even look at Ginny, so he didn't see Hermione whispering to her about the reason Harry was acting so strangely.

They arrived at the Burrow and got settled. Everyone was pleased to see that it was still standing and had not been harmed in any way. Harry was unusually jumpy, but when asked about it he said he was just still on edge from the battle. He doubted any one believed him, but they weren't going to push it. Harry knew that the chances of her taking him back with open arms where slim. No matter what Hermione said, he knew that she was upset when he left and that she had a famous temper. He figured there was an 85% chance that she'd yell at him, but hopefully it wouldn't last for to long and they'd be back together by tomorrow. Finally it came time for dinner. Some how the entire family, had heard about what was going to happen after dinner. All through dinner they where hinting at it: "bet you cant wait to start living again, Harry, you know getting a place to live, and who knows maybe even a _girlfriend_". Mrs. Weasley, who was oblivious to this, had taken it upon herself to, now that the war was over, become a grandmother.

"Really Bill, all I'm saying is that, now that there's no threat, why shouldn't you want to start a family?" she asked.

"Because Mum, we just got married and we want to take our time." Bill replied, tired of the conversation. Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and went to clean up dinner. The others went into the sitting room to relax.

"Hmm…why don't we go for a walk?" Hermione asked Harry, Ron, and Ginny. They all obliged and got up. After a few minutes of walking, Ron suggested they split up. Harry figured that he hadn't heard what was going to happen after dinner or that snogging Hermione was more important. He was sure, however, that Ron wouldn't be pushing them together. So then it was just Harry and Ginny.

"So…" Ginny started; there was no way that she was going to start this conversation. In her mind, he ended it so he can fix it.

"Well as I'm sure you know, I wanted to talk to you" Harry began slowly.

"I think the whole house knows, to be honest" she replied smiling.

"Except for Ron, I think he'd still be here if he had a clue" he said, also smiling.

"He's so protective. They all are, actually. Its like they don't think I can take care of myself." She said shaking her head.

"Don't be so hard on them. They just care about you and don't want you to get hurt," he told her.

"Yeah I know, I just wish they'd care a little less." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, at least you have people who do care" Harry sighed.

"I guess you're right; I can't complain much. But we do care Harry; we all love you. That's why we where so upset when we though you died. It wasn't that the wizarding world's savior was dead, it was that we had lost another family member." She said as she sat on a rock, just out of sight of the Burrow.

"Yeah, I guess" Harry acknowledged, "so now on to the problem at hand"

"Wow, I would have bet money that you'd have chickened out." She smiled.

"Me too, to be honest" he shook his head, "so how much do you know?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" she replied. Harry scowled; was she really going to make him do all the talking? What was she playing at? Maybe this is his punishment for ending it…

"Fine, you're lying but I'll pretend like I think you're being honest. I want to warn you before hand that I'm not good with type of thing." He took a deep breath before continuing. "So you know that I ended it to keep you safe. And I stand by that; it would have killed me if you had gotten killed. It was really hard for me to realize that we where over. I didn't want to but I had to. I hope you can forgive me." He finished, not meeting her gaze.

"Harry, I will be honest. I was crushed when you broke up with me; I knew you'd come back to me though. Then at the wedding, you just disappeared and you didn't say good-bye. Not that you had much time," she smiled before pushing on, "at school I was in hell; we had two Death Eaters torturing us. Then not knowing what was happening to you, or if you were alive. I never blamed you; I knew you did what you had to in order to keep us safe. But I know that's not really what you want to know, so go ahead and ask before they send out a search party." She finished, laughing slightly.

"Ok, lets see if I can phrase this right…" he joked, grinning.

"I'm tiered of waiting Harry, so just ask." She sighed. Harry laughed, saying as he did so "do you want to be my girlfriend?" Ginny leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then" he said grinning from ear to ear.

They stayed there kissing and talking until they heard Mrs. Weasley call them in.

"Harry, please can we keep this just between us for now?" Ginny asked, looking at him hopefully.

"Sure if that's what you want, but you're probably going to have to tell Hermione." He answered.

"Thanks…I guess we will have to tell Hermione" she smiled

"Just let me know when we'll tell everyone else"

She nodded in response to his request.

"Why exactly do you no want them to know?" he asked.

"Because they'll over react and never give us a moment alone and I don't want to deal with that right now" she replied.

" I think they already know or at least have a hunch, judging by dinner" he said.

"Well it's none of their business." She said angrily.

" You're their little sister, as far as they're concerned everything you do is their business, especially having a new boyfriend," Harry pointed out. She frowned in response. As they reached the path leading back to the Burrow, they meet back up with Ron and Hermione, both of whom where looking disheveled. Hermione shot Ginny a look that clearly said 'you will tell me _everything_' to which Ginny gave her a slight nod, so as not to attract attention. They entered the kitchen, which was strangely quite for just after dark. All eyes where on the group, mainly Harry and Ginny who where flanking Ron and Hermione.

"Good walk?" asked Charlie, trying to hide a grin.

"Yeah I had forgotten how nice it is to be able to walk without people trying to kill you," Harry said laughing.

"Yes its nice to be able to walk free, again," Hermione added.

"Well as nice as this little chat has been, I'm going to turn in. 'Night all" Ginny waved and left. Hermione followed almost instantly.

"I think they have the right idea," Mrs. Weasley said, "I think its time for bed." They started grumbling, but where quickly quieted by a stern look from Mrs. Weasley. Bill and Fleur left for Shell Cottage and the others went up to their rooms. Harry was again sharing with Ron, not that he minded. He and Ron went up to his attic bedroom. Ron's snores quickly filled the room while Harry went over the conversation with Ginny. He thought it had gone rather well, all things considered. He could have been hexed. He shuddered thinking about her bat-boggy hex. Pleased, he fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with nightmares.


	6. The Funeral

In another room, however, Ginny and Hermione where far from sleep.

"That's so sweet! I thought he was just going to say something in passing like 'hey now that the war's over, wanna go out again?'" Hermione laughed.

"I did too, after a while. He was stalling big time." Ginny said, also laughing.

"Of course he was; I've never seen him so nervous!" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That's sad; he'd fought Death Eaters, a basilisk, a giant spider and faced death multiple times in one year without flinching, but the idea of asking out a girl makes him go weak at the knees," Ginny shook her head sadly.

"Well he would go to the ends of the earth for you, so he can't be completely terrified" Hermione reasoned.

"Yeah I guess…" Ginny sighed, and then added "and we've decided not to tell anyone. You're the exception."

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"Because I want to prove to them that I can take care of myself and that it's none of their business who I date. I'm nearly of age; they need to realize that I can take care of myself and that I don't need saving. I don't want to be seen as the 5 year old little girl who cried because she was afraid of the dark." Ginny huffed.

"They only do that because they care" Hermione replied kindly.

"That's what Harry said," Ginny said, smiling slightly.

"We might have to tell Ron though…he might get suspicious if you two keep disappearing" Hermione said.

"Yeah I guess. We better go to sleep, lots to do tomorrow," Ginny said, smiling mischievously.

The next few days fell into a comfortable routine for Harry and Ron (who had taken the news quite well, all things considered). They woke up in the morning, ate with the rest of the family and spent the rest of the day outside with Hermione and Ginny or playing quidditch with Ron's brothers. Harry was surprised by the non-morning of the recently deceased twin. In fact when he asked Ginny about it, she said that they had agreed as a family that Fred would have wanted them to celebrate his life, not mourn his death. The only Weasley that hadn't agreed was George, who only left his room for meals. The Weasleys where still trying to grasp the fact that they had lost a son, but they where dealing with it best they could, and without tears. Harry had, however, walked in on Mrs. Weasley crying, having found an old shirt of Fred's.

Then came the funeral. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had decided to burry him up on a hill overlooking the Burrow and its land. Everyone in the family was bawling, but they where nothing compared to George. He sat beside Bill and Percy, who seemed to have taken it upon himself to see George through this hard time. All the Weasley's had agreed that instead of an obituary, they would each tell a fond memory of him:

"I remember when Fred and George where little, and they put a gnome in Percy's room. He opened his door and was ambushed by the little monster" or "when the twins where 9 they accidently set their beds on fire. Apparently, they where playing with fire and gunpowder and things got a little out of hand. I've never heard Mum yell so much in my life."

They ended the funeral this way so instead of leaving, crying with grief, everyone in attendance was crying from laughing so hard.

As the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the Burrow, Ginny hung back to walk with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who where bringing up the rear. She slipped her hand into Harry's and told him and Hermione that she thought it was time to tell the rest of the family.

"Ok how do you want to tell them?" Harry asked.

"I don't want to tell them, I want them to put it together." Ginny said.

"So you want them to figure it out?" Ron said picking up on the conversation.

"Yeah, like I come down for breakfast and casually give Harry a good morning kiss, or we hold hands in front of them, or you put your arm around me, Harry" she replied, nodding.

"Ginny, I think your brothers would kill me if we just randomly started doing that" he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, trying to calm his nerves.

"Aww, is 'the Chosen One' afraid of the Big Bad Weasley boys?" Hermione said in a mocking tone.

"No, I just don't want to get on their bad side" he replied smiling.

"It's a deal then; tomorrow we'll start hinting at it" Ginny smiled, and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek before running ahead to walk with George.

"She's mental, that one is" Ron muttered. They talked and tried to predict what the family's reaction would be the next day as they walked to the Burrow.

Harry woke the next day with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He knew why he was nervous but didn't want to admit it. He figured that the Weasleys would either approve and be thrilled or he would have to leave and find a new place to live. He made his way down to breakfast hoping that their plan would work and not get him killed. He arrived to see that Bill, Charlie, Percy, Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley where already there. Hermione gave him an encouraging smile, sensing how he was feeling. He asked Mr. Weasley if he could read the _Daily Prophet_ and stared eating. He didn't read the newspaper he wanted it as an excuse to not join in the conversation. A few minutes later, Ginny walked into the kitchen.

"Morning!" she said brightly, walking over to Harry who was now looking up. She gave him a quick kiss before turning to talk to Hermione. Following her lead, Harry returned to the paper, thankful that his hair was long enough to cover his ears, which he was sure where burning red. He was aware that all of the Weasleys in the kitchen where looking at him or at Ginny. The couple was spared any questions by the arrival of Fleur who quickly started a conversation about her and Bill's first wedding anniversary.

There was then a knock on the door. Mr. Weasley went to answer it and returned a few moments later, followed by Kingsley.

"Hello all," he said brightly, "I'm so sorry to just show up like this, but I need a word with Harry and Ron."

"Ron's still asleep but I'd be happy to pass on a message" Harry said. Kingsley nodded and gestured for Harry to follow him out into the yard.

Once they where in the yard and out of earshot (extendable or otherwise), he began; "Harry after everything you, Ron, and Hermione have been through, the ministry wants to offer you three a post as an auror, but as Ms. Granger aspires to do otherwise, we are asking you and Ron. We want you to start as a full auror as soon as possible, so instead of 3 years of training, we are going to give you one and a half. The catch however is that you would be at the Auror Training Facilities and would be there the whole time. You would be there 24/7 and would remain there even for the holidays. We would like your and Ron's response by next Friday. You would leave for training on September 2nd. If either of you have any questions, please let me know" he ended.

"Wow Kingsley, thanks that's very nice of you. I do have one question. Are you aware that Ron and I haven't completed our N.E.W.T's" Harry asked.

"Yes I am. I think that defeating Voldemort more than makes up for not completing your education" the minister replied.

"Alright just making sure. I need to think about it but I will get back to you" Harry said.

"Thank you Harry. Tell the Weasleys I said good bye." He said.

"Will do, minister" Harry replied. He walked back to the Burrow, head buzzing.

"Well Harry? What did Kingsley want?" Hermione asked almost the second he walked through the door. Harry told them about his and Ron's job offer.

"Harry that's great!" Ginny all but yelled, flinging her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss, full on the mouth, in front of her brothers, who glared at Harry.

"Whas goin' on?" Ron mumbled coming down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Harry responded by telling him about the job while Ron ate.

"Cool. Sounds like fun, but I was hoping to help George with the joke shop for a while" Ron said when Harry had finished. Ron looked to George, who had joined the group while Harry was with the minister.

"Sure; it'd be nice to have an extra set of hands." George said, he had decided yesterday to reopen the shop in Fred's memory. Ron grinned and nodded.

"Well we should send Kingsley our replies telling him our decisions" Harry said after a while.

"So you're going to do it then?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking nervous.

"Yeah, I like helping people and making a difference." He replied, nodding.

"Don't forget saving lives; you _love_ saving people" Ron laughed.

"Yeah that's true. You meet a lot of interesting people when you save their life. It creates a bond like no other." Harry laughed too.

"Like who?" Fleur asked.

"Let's see. I saved Hermione from a troll, Ginny from a horcrux and basilisk, my godfather and Ron from about 100 dementors, the man who betrayed my parents from Sirius and Remus, Gabrielle and Ron from the merpeople, saved Mr. Weasley after he was attacked by Nagini, I tried to save Sirius from Voldemort, but failed but managed to not get any one else killed that night." Harry paused, thinking, "In 6th year I didn't really save any one…I gave Ron, Hermione, and Ginny Felix Felicis the night Dumbledore died, which you could argue saved them. Then last year I caused more problems than I solved…" he ended looking at a point out the window, remembering all the near-death experiences he's been in the last few years.

"That's not true Harry. You saved my life after I drank that poison in Slughorn's office" Ron objected.

"And you saved everyone during the battle. You died for us, you died so that we could live and be happy. Then you came back to us…who knows why or how, but you did; you had the choice of staying and feeling no more pain or suffering, but you came back to make sure that he died." Ginny said softly, putting her hand on his cheek and gazing intently into his eyes. He gave her a small smile before seeing her brothers (minus Ron) glaring at him.

"Ron, we should go write to Kingsley. I'll write it if you want, but I need to borrow Pig to send it." He said quickly looking at Ron, again thankful that no one could see his ears.

"Er—sure; he's up in my room." Ron said, looking confused.

"Thanks mate." Harry left to go write the letter, leaving the kitchen in an awkward silence.

**There was going to be more to this chapter, a lot more, but I decided to turn it into another chapter. Please tell me what you think. The more reviews the sooner the update!!**


	7. The Talks

Once he was up in Ron's room, he could hear muffled yelling. It sounded something like "what do you mean you're going out with him!?" it sounded like Bill or maybe Charlie. It ended a few minutes later and there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in" he called, griping his wand incase Ginny's brothers burst in wanting to kill him. Instead, Ginny walked in.

"Well, they're not as stupid as I thought" Ginny sighed, sitting on Ron's bed.

"You weren't exactly being subtle, Gin" Harry smiled.

"He has a point" came Hermione's voice. She was standing by the door with Ron.

"They're still deciding if they approve" Hermione continued, "Ron managed to pull a little weight in your favor Harry"

"Good. Thanks Ron" Harry smiled at his best mate, who grinned back. They stayed in Ron's room until lunch. He sent the letter to Kingsley, with a question of his own.

When Harry walked into the kitchen, holing hands with Ginny, all of her brothers (minus Ron) folded their arm across their chests. Percy, Charlie, Bill and George had decided to wait until after lunch to tell Harry the verdict. Finally the time came.

"Congratulations Harry" Charlie started, "we've decided that we approve, but if you hurt her or do anything to her, mark my words, we _will _kill you."

"Without hesitation" Percy added. Harry nodded in response, but Ginny, on the other hand, snapped.

"It's none of your damned business who I go out with or what I do with them. If I had it my way you still wouldn't know, but Harry said he felt like he was betraying your trust by not telling you, so we did. But that's _all _you have a right to know" Ginny said, her voice getting lower and lower until she was nearly growling. She had been lying with the 'he felt like he was betraying your trust by not telling you' thing, but it clearly got her point across as all her brothers where staring at her dumbfounded.

"What do you mean it's none of our business who you go out with or what you do with them?" Mrs. Weasley said, "I think that qualifies as your parents business, young lady!"

"Of course it does Mum, it just doesn't qualify as my brothers' business" Ginny replied. Her mother nodded.

"Ginny, we don't mean to be intrusive, but you're our little sister and we don't know what we'd do if any thing happened to you or if any one hurt you" Bill reasoned.

"They'd probably kill me," Harry muttered so only Ginny heard him. Snickering, she replied, so only he could hear: "Don't worry, I wont let them; you're to valuable," then addressing her brothers she said, "I'm nearly of age. That means that I won't need your protection and that I can take care of myself. You need to start getting used to it. I want you to know that I—what Harry!?" she said glaring at him. He gave her a look that said 'you're being too mean and you should apologize'

"But they deserve it! They go around acting like I'm still 7 years old!" she complained. He gave her another 'apologize now' look.

"Fine!" she huffed, then turning to her brothers said, "I'm sorry" rather gruffly and stomped up the stairs.

"Wow mate! I've never seen any one call her out like that! You didn't even say anything, you just looked at her; if one of us had tried that, we'd be dead" Ron sounded impressed.

"Not only that, he stopped her mid-rant, that's nearly impossible!" George surveyed Harry, thoughtfully.

"She didn't even _try_ to attack him! How did you_ do _that?" Percy asked.

"It's not the first time she's been pissed and I had to calm her down" Harry said, amused at their awed tones.

"Its official; they're perfect for each other. They complete each other nicely, don't you think" Charlie exclaimed. The others nodded.

"Don't you zink zat someone should go talk to 'er?" Fleur asked. Her brothers turned to Harry.

"If anyone can do it, mate it's you." Ron said. Again, they nodded. Harry rolled his eyes and went up the stairs.

When he reached her door, he knocked.

"Come in" came Ginny's voice. He went in and saw her sitting on her bed reading.

"That went well" he started.

"Yeah I guess." She sighed, "They're so _infuriating_! They act like I can't do anything for myself."

"Because you're always going to be their little sister." He said, sitting down next to her, "on the bright side" he added, "because of the little incident down stairs, they reckon we're perfect for each other." she smiled slightly.

"What right do they have to have _any _say in who I go out with or what I do with them? Yes, Mum has a point; it is her and Dad's business, but NOT my brothers'. It's like they don't trust my judgment! And by extension, they don't trust you. You're the bloody Boy-Who-Lived! What reason do they have to not trust you!" she was building up steam now and Harry knew that he needed to cut her off before things went to far.

"Other than nearly getting almost every one in your family killed at some point or another, then getting Fred killed?" he asked partly kidding and partly trying to change the subject.

"It's not your fault, Harry. You did what you had to and if it wasn't for you half of my family would be dead." She said. Harry sighed, internally, thankful that he had been successful. She, however, continued.

"Its like they're trying to lock me in a damned ivory tower!"

"They just want to make sure that you don't end up falling in love with some one who'll break your heart." He said feeling slightly guilty, hoping she wouldn't say it--.

"You mean like you did?" she said it. He inwardly cursed.

"Well…yeah…but I didn't really have a choice. And I came back right?" he spluttered, not registering the fact that she had just told him that she loved him.

"Yeah you did, but it doesn't change that you broke my heart" she smiled sadly. He nodded.

"I know, and I'm sorry. So…er…how many of your brothers know about that?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Just Ron," she told him, putting her head on his shoulder, "all they know was that I was really upset for a while, but they figured it was Dumbledore's death." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. They stayed like that for a few minutes before deciding to go back downstairs.

When they entered the kitchen, all eyes where on them. Ginny's brothers where studying Harry for any signs on injuries.

"Lets go play quidditch." Ginny suggested trying to get the attention off of them.

"Yeah sounds like fun!" Ron said, clearly trying to help her.

"Alright, go ahead, but first your father and I want a private word with you and Harry" Mrs. Weasley said to Ginny, who took a deep breath before agreeing. The others trouped out onto the yard to set up the game.

"Yes Mum?" Ginny asked apprehensively.

"I'll start by saying that Ron and Hermione have already gotten this talk. Now, we know the war has been hard on both of you and we are delighted that you're happy, but we hope that you will take things slowly," she began, "we also request that, Harry, you don't ask any _important_ questions while Ginny is still in school. And that when or if you do, we would like for you talk to us first. The same for if you decide you want a more… physical… relationship." She ended with both Harry and Ginny as red as Ginny's hair. They nodded in agreement and quickly left to go play quidditch. Harry was mortified. He never thought that he would have _that _conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who he considered his adoptive parents.

The game went fairly well. Harry's team (Bill, Ginny, and Harry) won the first game by a large margin (475:190). Ron was keeper for both teams while Fleur and Hermione watched and played referee. They played with 2 chasers and 1 seeker on each team. Harry and Charlie played seeker while George, Percy, Bill and Ginny played chaser. It was an unfair game as George was normally a beater and Percy didn't normally play. After the first game, the teams swapped seekers. This time Harry caught the snitch and won the game but by a much closer margin (350: 300). They went back inside to clean up before dinner.

"Harry dear, there's a letter for you from the ministry." Mrs. Weasley said when he came back down after showering.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley" he said picking the letter up off the counter. He began to read:

Harry,

In regards to your question, I'm afraid that you will not be permitted to send or receive letters, except for on the holidays, if your training is going well.

On another note, I feel it important to warn you that you will be receiving a letter from the legal department of the ministry informing you about your parents' will and your inheritance. You will also be visited by a Gringotts goblin, within a day or two, that will be telling you about your financial situation, nothing bad I'm sure. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

-Kingsley

"Damn it" Harry muttered.

"Harry? What did the ministry want?" Ginny asked having heard his outburst. He showed her the letter.

"Oh…why did they wait to give you your inheritance? Shouldn't they have done that when you turned 17?" she asked when she had finished reading it.

"There was probably to much going on with the war to worry about this." He said. Seeing all the puzzled faces in the sitting room, he told them about the letter. The Weasleys and Hermione started talking about what was in his parents will and wondering what he would inherit. Harry stayed quite for the remainder of the evening, pondering if he wanted to get everything that belonged to his parents. He went to bed that night, dreading the prospect of his meetings within the next few days.

**What do you think? Any suggestions?**

**PLEASE review. Hint: it'll make me update faster.**


	8. The Will

Harry woke abruptly the next morning by someone jumping onto his bed; he sat up quickly and reached for his glasses. As he put them on, Ginny came into focus.

"Good morning." She said brightly.

"'Morning…um...why am I being woken up so early?" he asked stretching.

"Because there's a letter marked 'urgent and classified' downstairs, addressed to you and we thought that you might want to know," she said.

"Right you are. I'll be down stairs in a few minutes." They got up and she kissed him on the cheek before saying:

"Don't dilly-dally; I want to know what it says, but Mum said it was against the law to open other peoples mail." And she was gone. He chuckled and did as he was told. He got down to the kitchen and was greeted by an annoyed Mrs. Weasley.

"Good you're here. Now open your letter so Ginny can stop bugging me about it" she said glaring at Ginny. He picked the envelope up off the table and opened it. He sat down across from Ginny so he could read it before sharing it with the rest of the family. He started to read the first piece of parchment:

_Dear Mr. Harry J. Potter,_

_It is my duty to inform you of your parents' will. It is enclosed and has been delivered to you upon their request. Due to the events of last year, we have delayed sending this to you. I apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask._

_Sincerely,_

_Christopher Brown_

_Department of Legal Transactions_

_Ministry of Magic_

He set it aside to retrieve the will. Ginny immediately snatched it so she could read it. He flattened the will and began to read it:

_**The Last Will and Testament of**_

_**James Charlus and Lily Ann Evans Potter**_

_To our son and only child, Harry James Potter, we leave everything._

_This includes: Potter Manor, Potter House, Potter Mountain House, _

_Potter Beach House, everything in them and their staff. We also leave the Potter fortune to you. We know that money and property does not compensate for our deaths and absence from your life, but know that we are still with you and watching over you. _

It went into further detail on his inheritance, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't read any further.

"Harry are you ok?" Hermione asked. He shook his head and handed her the will. She gasped and looked at him.

"Four houses? Why on earth would someone need 4 houses?" she asked appalled.

"Two vacation houses and two houses to live in year round" a new voice came. Harry had been so focused on the will that he hadn't noticed the knock on the door. It turned out to be a goblin, who was carrying a rather large carved wooden box.

"Mr. Potter, I am Gullam, the goblin in charge of the Potter fortune." He introduced himself, bowing slightly, "we don't normally do house calls, but as the Potters are a very old, very important wizarding family, we felt that an exception could be made."

"I'm glad" Harry said, "What do you mean 'old, important wizarding family'?"

"The Potters are one of the richest families in the wizarding world." The goblin replied.

"What? How did that happen?" he asked amazed.

"You had a great, great grandfather who became Minister of Magic, your great grandfather helped found the Nimbus Broom Company and before that your great, great, great…I don't now how many greats, godfather was Bowman Wright, who forged the first snitch. He never married so his small fortune went to his godson. You get the idea. But I'm not here to tell you about your family history, I'm here to tell you that at some point in the near future, you need to come to the bank and we can show you your vault." Gallum said, annoyed that this was taking longer than he'd originally thought.

"I've seen my vault. I've seen it nearly every year since I turned eleven" Harry told the goblin, confused.

"That, Mr. Potter," said the goblin, "was your trust fund for school. Now that you are of age you gain access to the rest of it." Harry nodded, too stunned to speak.

"Good, now that's settled, there is one more thing." Gallum told him, setting the wooden box in front of Harry, "This is the rings and some other priceless artifacts." He opened the box and saw about 5 beautiful engagement rings, around 10 wedding bands, jeweled bracelets and necklaces, along with two men's wristwatches.

"Wow" was all Harry could say. He could see Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Bill, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley looking in the box, open mouthed, but unable to hear due to enchantments placed by the goblin. He picked up a watch and saw an engraving on it. Looking closer he saw it said:

**J.C.P**

**Happy 17****th**

He smiled. He liked having something that belonged to his father. He looked back into the box and listened while Gallum explained that the engagement rings where arranged by wedding date. He picked up his mother's ring. It had a large almond-shaped diamond in the center surrounded by smaller bright green and hazel diamonds, he then realized that the whole ring revolved around his parents eye color and shape. It looked like that's what the theme of Potter engagement rings.

"-- Alright with you, I will be going back to Gringotts. I can leave this with you, if that's what you would like." Gallum was saying.

"Yeah you can go back, but I'm going to keep this for a while longer." He replied not taking his eyes off of the engagement rings, he couldn't get the image of Ginny wearing one of them out of his head. The goblin lifted the enchantments and then left.

"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to get a family history lesson. I also didn't think that I'd become one of the wizarding world's richest people in the span of a ten minute meeting." He shook his head trying to clear it.

"So when are you going to visit your houses?" Ron asked as if nothing had happened.

"Soon I suppose" Harry shrugged. He put the watch and the ring back in the box. He was about to take it upstairs for safekeeping when Ginny and Hermione asked if they could see the contents again. He agreed, telling them everything that Gallum had told him, as the goblin had put them in a 'cone of silence' of sorts. Hermione was fascinated by his heritage, Ginny, on the other hand, was mesmerized by the rings. He was to, to be honest. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the image of her wearing one. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley set all of the jewels on the kitchen table to as to better see them. Under the jewelry, Fleur spotted a book.

"_Potters: A Life Guide_" Harry read when she showed it to him. He picked it up; he saw another book under it. _Potter Weddings Photo Album _it read. He put the first book down and started flipping through the photo album. He noticed that each couple had two pages of pictures. The first few sets of pictures where all in black and white, but slowly more and more where in color. He saw that most of the Potter men looked just like him, except for the eyes they all had the eyes of the woman on the page before. When he got to the pictures that where in color, nearly all the brides had red hair. The ones that didn't had a slight red tint to their hair.

As soon as he realized this, he closed the album and put all of his new found treasures back in the box. He took it up to his and Ron's room and performed a spell on it so that only he could open it.

"What was that Harry? One second you where looking a book and the next everything is back in that box." Ginny asked.

"I was looking at a photo album. It was of all the weddings in my family since cameras where invented." He said, hoping that she wouldn't ask if she could see it.

"Oh ok…that must have been really hard for you" she had surprised him.

"Yeah it was…not what I was expecting. I can normally tell when someone's about to start talking about them and I have a second or two to ready myself, but I wasn't expecting to suddenly be looking at a bunch of people, who look just like me, getting married." He said being partly truthful.

"It must be hard also when the person who looks just like you is marrying a red head that looks kind of like Ginny," Hermione whispered so only Harry could hear. He glared at her silently telling her to tell no one. She nodded.

"So what was in the other book?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno; I was about to look at it when I saw the photo album. I'll look at it later and tell you" he replied grateful for the slight change in subject.

"Good…_ Potters: A Life Guide _that has to be interesting. I wonder if it's like a diary that your family has written in, giving advice, telling stories, you know that type of thing." Hermione said, deep in thought. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny spent the rest of the day walking around the orchard and the hills that surround the Burrow. That night when Harry climbed in bed he pulled the book out and started to read.

**Haha a cliffhanger!!**

**Maybe now you'll give me a review!!**

**I'm not sure about this chapter, so tell me how you feel. PLEASE!!!**

**It was a fun chapter to write (Harry's family history and stuff like that), but its one that you never know how people will react to it…so REVIEW and let me know!!!**

**FYI: all of Harry's family history is AU…that we know of… and if you don't like something or if you do like something, let me know.**


	9. Baby sitting

**Sorry this update took so long; I've been really busy.**

_Potters: A Life Guide._

_Chapter One: The Introduction_

_Potters are a very old, very respected family. We have traditions for almost everything. From Hogwarts houses to what you name your children, we have rules, traditions, and opinions. This is a book of Potter rules, regulations, traditions, and opinions. Most would think it stupid to write this down, but not a Potter. I am writing this down because it is important for everyone to know their family, even if they aren't there. I am mainly writing this so Potters' whose father is not around to tell them. The book is short and the chapters incredibly short, but it tells all it needs to. _

Harry shifted to get more comfortable, the old camp bed creaking as he did so, before continuing. He didn't care that he was exhausted; this was valuable information on his family. Fighting sleep, he continued.

_Chapter Two: Hogwarts_

_Gryffindor. We are a red and gold family, through and through. We have been since the first Potter went to Hogwarts. Because we have the invisibility cloak, we are also notorious troublemakers. There is nothing like the adrenaline of almost getting caught wandering the school at midnight. Because of this, we rarely become prefects. When we do, it is cause for much celebration, as it is with any family. Quidditch is something that nearly every Potter has done. We have a gift for the sport. Potters who weren't on the team where either not very competitive or they were banned. This has happened on occasion, as we are trouble. Every year a Potter is on the house team, Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup. Sadly, no one so far has gone professional. Potters are procrastinators. There is nothing that can make us do our homework early. We leave everything to the last minute, and if we don't turn it in, we always have an excuse. _

He turned the page to read chapter three.

_Chapter Three: Lying_

_Potters are often called Human Lie Detectors. This is because we have a keen eye and notice things others normally don't. There are warning signs to tell when someone's lying. Things like eyes dilating, eyes twitching, mouth twitching, playing with rings or watches. When you ask a person about something that happened in the past and they glance to the left, they're lying. If they glance to the right, they're recalling a memory. This is useful if you interrogate people for a living or if you're an auror. Other than that, the only time you would use it is if you think your friends are lying to you. But it is still useful… _

At this point, Harry fell asleep, the book slipping out of his hands. The next thing he knew, someone was walking in the room. He sat up as Hermione woke Ron up and Ginny picked the book up off the floor.

"'Chapter Four: Personalities.'" She read.

"Yeah, I must've fallen asleep while I was reading it last night. Can I have it back?" he asked. She handed it to him.

"Have you learned anything interesting?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Kind of. Every Potter has been a Gryffindor, they all love quidditch and all are really good at it." He answered putting the book back in the box. Hermione looked like she was about to say something.

"Well, breakfast is ready, so you better come down before it gets cold" Ginny said cutting Hermione off as she opened her mouth. Ginny gave her a meaningful look. The pair left so Ron and Harry could get dressed.

"It said more than you told us, didn't it?" Ron asked as they went down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Yes it did, in the introduction it said that the whole book is traditions and family history. If you don't mind, I want to finish the book before I say to much." Harry replied.

"Not at all; I'd want the same if it was me" Ron said, showing briefly that he was not as thick as every one told him he was. As they entered the kitchen, Ginny and Hermione stopped the whispered conversation that they were having. Ron and Harry stared eating while they talked about what they were going to do that day.

"I was thinking that I would go se Teddy; maybe talk Andromeda into letting me have him for the day." Harry said carefully, not sure what they'd say.

"I think that's a great idea, Harry. I'm sure he'd love to see you." Ginny smiled. The other two nodded their ascent. He Apparated to the Tonks' residence an hour or so after he finished his breakfast, as he wanted to make sure that they were awake. He walked up the walkway and knocked on the door.

"Hello Harry, please come in" Andromeda said brightly when she answered the door.  
"Hi Mrs. Tonks. I came to see if I could have Teddy for the day." He responded as politely as possible, entering the house.

"Oh yes that would be great! I've been wanting to run a few errands and get this house looking presentable." She said. It was true; looking around he saw that the once spotless house now resembled a war zone. Toys, clothes, food, and stuffed animals where strewn across the floor and furniture. It did need to be tidied up a little, even Andromeda was looking a little worse for wear: her clothes where mismatched, her hair disheveled.

"I can take him for as long as you need, Mrs. Tonks. I'm staying with the Weasleys and Mrs. Weasley is currently baby-proofing the house. She also wants to know if you'll come for dinner." He said, half hoping that he could take Teddy for the night, half dreading the prospect of it.

"Harry, it would be wonderful if he stayed the weekend with you. If you don't mind, I'm going do decline dinner; I think it'd be nice to have an evening alone. " She said quickly readying Teddy for his trip.

"No problem." He responded. They made small talk and talked about when Teddy will be with Harry for the hours until Teddy was ready to go. She said good-bye. Harry Apparated with Teddy back to the Burrow. When he arrived, a very excited Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur ambushed him.

"Don't knock me over! The last thing he needs right now is an injury." Harry said, stepping back.

"We wont…Hi Teddy," Ginny said cooing at Teddy.

"'E is a very 'ansome little boy. 'E 'ooks juzt like Remus." Fleur said taking him out of Harry's arms.

"Yeah he does, he's going to have to go through the 'you look just like your dad' thing like I did. Poor bloke." Harry replied shaking his head.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Ginny asked Hermione, who shrugged. They walked back to the Burrow, taking turns holding Teddy.

"Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Tonks declined dinner; said that it'd be nice to have a day to herself. Teddy is going to stay the weekend with us, if that's alright with you." Harry told Mrs. Weasley when they walked into the kitchen.

"That's perfectly fine. I thought that might happen so I put a crib in Bill's room, where you'll be staying with him." She said taking the baby from Ginny and took him into the sitting room, where she had set up a little play area using her sons' old toys. She set him on the floor then returned to the kitchen, where dinner was being put together. Harry got down on the floor and started playing with his godson. Ginny was soon to follow. Fleur went to Shell Cottage to greet Bill who came home from work around this time. Hermione went to find Ron, who had disappeared.

Teddy was fascinated by Weasleys toys. His favorites were his stuffed animals. He had a stuffed stag, a dog, and a werewolf. Apparently, Remus had thought it quite hilarious when he found the dog and stag and had bought them in memory of James and Sirius. Tonks had then commented that they needed a werewolf to complete the Marauders (Wormtail had betrayed them so he was no longer a Marauder). They played with those and the blocks, provided by Mrs. Weasley. Soon enough Ron and Hermione came into the sitting room and joined them. Teddy was having the time of his life. Everything he did got a response from his audience. He played with the toys until Mrs. Weasley came and told them it was time for dinner. They got up, went into the kitchen, and sat down. Harry put Teddy in the highchair that was next to his usual chair. Throughout dinner, Teddy would change his appearance to whatever the color of the food he was eating.

"That's quite a talent he's got" Mr. Weasley commented at one point.

After dinner, Harry took him upstairs to give him a bath then to put him down for the night. As he was reading Teddy a bedtime story (_The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_), Ginny walked into Bill's room. She watched him read to his godson, he looked so comfortable. She stayed there until he put Teddy in the crib and turned to leave. He stopped short when he saw her.

_How long has she been standing there?_ He wondered.

"So…how long have you been standing there?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Long enough to know that you're going to make a great dad" she replied, as they walked slowly down the stairs.

"How do you figure that?" he asked, mind buzzing.

"The way you read to him, it was…like when Dad read to us when we were little." She told him looking at him causing her to trip. Harry caught her before she fell.

"You ok?" he asked, setting her back on her feet.

"Yeah, thanks to you." she smiled up at him, and then gave him a kiss. When they broke apart, he grinned at her.

"You don't know how much I like doing that," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Me too" she replied.

"You're wrong you know, about the dad thing," he said as they started back down the stairs.

"How?" she asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Well, people parent by example; they parent and do what their parents did. My example locked me in a cupboard under the stairs. I was rarely feed and beaten on a regular basis. With examples like that how am I supposed to be a likeable person, let alone a passable father?" he said. Every head in the room snapped up.

"I beg your pardon?" Mrs. Weasley asked, nearly yelling. "You mean to tell me that you're _pregnant_?!"

"WHAT? No Mum! We were talking about how Harry reminded me of Dad while he was putting Teddy to bed!" Ginny screamed. "I told him that he'd make a great father and he was telling me that he would be a horrible father."

"Yeah Mrs. Weasley, its true; I would make a dreadful father." Harry said, trying to do two things: 1) add some humor into the situation or 2) change the subject.

"No you wouldn't Harry. Your logic is completely wrong." Hermione said. "And any way, you were great with Teddy today."

"For starters, I had at least two other people around at all times and secondly, its only a day, not a lifetime. I am going to help Andromeda raise him, but he's only going to be with me every other weekend. And that's not going to happen while I'm in Auror training." Harry argued. Sensing that this wasn't going to end well or soon, Mrs. Weasley sent them all to bed, rebuffing their complaints on how early it was. Harry walked up to Bill's room, entering quietly as not to wake the sleeping baby. He got into bed and lay wake for what felt like hours, milling through the days high and low points. Eventually he fell into a light sleep.

**I haven't decided who wrote the book so if you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. I know that Harry bathed and put Teddy to bed on his own, but he was exaggerating. Please review!!**


	10. The Test

"Waaaaaaaaaaa" Teddy screamed. Harry rolled out of bed and picked Teddy up. He sat down in the rocking chair that Mrs. Weasley had placed in the room and started rocking him. There was a creak at the door. Ginny walked in.

"Hey there." He said softly.

"Hi, I heard Teddy crying and thought I might be able to help." She said rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Sure; he likes you more any way." Harry laughed.

"No he doesn't." she told him taking Teddy. He immediately started wailing even louder and his hair turned black and became very untidy.

"See? I told you." she smirked handing him back to Harry. He smiled as Teddy slowly calmed down and went back to sleep. He looked up; about to stand up to put Teddy back in his crib, when he noticed Ginny had fallen asleep. He weighed his options: wake her up, sleep in the rocking chair, or use magic to put her back in her room. He knew he was too sleepy to do magic, which could end up injuring both of them. Sleeping in the rocking chair would be uncomfortable and he would most likely end up with a crick in his neck. That left waking her up, so he put his godson back in his crib and went over to her.

"Ginny" he whispered, "You need to go back to your room."

"Why? I don't want to. I want to stay right here." She mumbled pulling Harry down onto the bed with her.

"Because if any one in your family found us like this, I'd be dead before we could explain that nothing happened." he explained, trying to get up, but she held fast.

"I hate that they're so damned bloody protective." She muttered, letting him up.

"Yeah, I do too." He said under his breath. She smiled putting her arms around his neck.

"So you want me to carry you?" he said. She nodded. He picked her up, bridal style, and took her into her room. He placed her on her bed and started for the door.

"One day Harry, one day we will be able to do what we want when we want." She said so quietly that at first he thought he had imagined it; he realized that she was being quiet as not to wake Hermione. He turned around and walked back over to her. He bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I know," he whispered as quietly as she had. He stood up and went back to his room. He fell into bed and was quickly asleep. He woke up to Teddy squealing in delight. He sat up and put in his glasses. Ginny stood there, holding Teddy.

"Morning sunshine." She smiled.

"Good morning." Harry yawned, "why are you always the one to wake me up?"

"Are you complaining?" she asked, shifting Teddy in her arms.

"No, not at all. I was just wondering." He said quickly.

"Because I volunteer to. Mum asks who wants to wake you and Ron up. I volunteer to wake you and Hermione volunteers to wake Ron." She answered setting Teddy down on the bed.

"So thanks for your help last night." He said.

"My pleasure. And I do hate that they're so over protective."

"I know, believe me I know," he said shaking his head. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss before leaving. Just like every other day, he got dressed and went downstairs.

"Good morning, Harry dear. Andromeda sent an owl saying that she'll be coming for dinner tonight." Mrs. Weasley said as he entered the kitchen, "she also said that she wanted to ask you some questions about…well, I'm not sure, but she made it sound important."

"Okay. Thanks Mrs. Weasley." He replied, wondering, like everyone else, what Andromeda wanted to ask him. The day passed like the previous one. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione played with Teddy and when he was taking a nap, they would spend some 'quality time' with each other. Harry was tense in prospect of dinner. Finally the time came. Mrs. Tonks knocked on the door.

"Hello Andromeda. Please, come in." Mrs. Weasley greeted her. She came in the house.

"Hello Mrs. Tonks. How are you?" Harry asked entering the kitchen from the living room with Teddy.

"I'm doing very well Harry, and you? How has Teddy been?" she asked.

"I'm fine and he's been great." Harry replied. She smiled and nodded. Soon Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and George where all in the kitchen, introductions where made.

"Harry" Mrs. Tonks said as they sat down to dinner, "I want to ask you something."

"Er…alright…fire away." He responded, apprehensively.

"If you don't want to answer, I understand; there not exactly easy questions. You see I want to know what it's going to be like for Teddy, to grow up without his parents." She told him looking nervous.

"Um…alright" he said apprehensively.

"On second thought, never mind. But if he gets difficult to deal with because of it, will you help me deal with him?" she asked.

"Sure, but no orphan is the same. Hagrid, Voldemort, and me are all orphans but have all had different experiences" he said, relieved. "Hagrid knew his father, but not his mother. Voldemort grew up in an orphanage, bullying the other children there. My aunt and uncle raised me; I'm not even going into detail on what happen there, but my point is that Teddy will have people who love him and that will make all the difference. He'll also have someone to relate to." The room was silent. Mrs. Tonks looked thoughtful.

"Harry, from the sound of it, You-Know-Who had a better childhood than you did." She said after a few moments.

"No way. That cant be." Ron said loudly.

"I suppose it's true in a way. He was the bully in the orphanage, his dad knew he was alive but never went looking for him. I was my cousin's favorite punching bag, my clothes were cast-offs, and I slept in a cupboard under the stairs for 10 years." He said "the interesting thing is that Voldemort decided that he wanted revenge so he killed and tortured innocent people. Dumbledore said that the fact that I'm not like him is a miracle." Soon dinner ended and they moved into the sitting room while Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione cleaned up. George and Percy started playing chess as the others sat around the fire. Mr. Weasley was talking to Andromeda about Teddy, who was in his playpen. Ginny sat on Harry's lap, talking quietly to him.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" she asked after a while, referring to Teddy.

"Yeah if he knows people love him, but then again, if he's anything like Tonks, that wont be a problem." He replied, looking at his godson. Ginny nodded, reassured. Just then, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione walked in. Ron glared when he saw Ginny sitting on Harry's lap. Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and sat down. Mrs. Weasley walked over to Harry and Ginny.

"Harry, your birthday is coming up soon. Next week actually and I was wondering how you wanted to celebrate it. 18 is a very big deal after all. It means that you'll be of age in the muggle word, not just the wizarding world." She said.

"Is it really next week?" he shook his head "I don't want a fuss. Honestly just a normal day would be fine by me." By this time the whole family was listening.

"Harry, you have to do _something _for your birthday!" Ginny whined

"Yeah, Harry even if it's only a special dinner." Ron said.

"Fine do what ever you want Mrs. Weasley, but no surprise parties" he caved. Ginny smiled and gave him a big kiss.

"Mate! Come on! Please do you have to do that in front of everyone?" Ron asked, looking sick.

"Ron, you're such a hypocrite!" Ginny exclaimed, infuriated.

"Just because I'm not flamboyant about _my _relationship. _I'm _not the one whose girlfriend is sitting on his lap making her look like a…" he argued, glaring at Harry.

"Ron you don't want to go there." Harry broke in, standing up.

"Shut up. This isn't about you." Ron snarled at Harry.

"Its as much about him as its about you or me" Ginny spat also standing up.

"FINE!" he turned to Harry "I don't want you to snog her where anyone can see! I don't want you two any where _near_ each other!" At this point everyone else broke in.

"Ron, calm down and think about this!" Hermione said, reaching for his arm, which he jerked way.

"What the hell is with you?" George said, Percy nodding in agreement.

"I finally came to my senses. Harry, I'm sorry but its her or me. Your choice, I want your answer by tomorrow." With that he turned and stormed up the stairs, a few seconds later they heard his door slam.

"What was that about?" Mrs. Weasley asked, perplexed.

"I have no idea." Harry said, confused.

"Do you think I should go talk to him?" Hermione asked, wringing her hands.

"No; you of all people should know to never mess with Ron while he's mad." Harry reasoned.

"Why did he just blow up like that? And what was with that ultimatum?" Ginny asked, looking bewildered.

"I have not a clue. So what are you going to say Harry?" Mr. Weasley questioned. He shrugged.

"I'm still trying to figure out what possessed him to give me an ultimatum." He replied, dazed slightly.

"I think you should pick Ginny" George said, much nodding in agreement followed this.

"I think Harry should do what he wants." Ginny said, looking pointedly at Harry.

"So are you going to tell us your decision or are we going to have to wait until tomorrow at breakfast?" Mrs. Tonks asked.

"Breakfast. I think that's only fair." He smiled and excused himself to go to bed, mind buzzing; who was he going to chose: his best friend or his girlfriend? He fell asleep that night with his decision made.

He woke up the next morning and was surprised not to see Ginny standing there. Instead he saw Ron, who was looking very uncomfortable.

"Hello Harry." He said.

"Hey Ron." Harry replied sitting up to make room for Ron at the end of his bed.

"So are you going to answer?" Ron asked sitting on the end of his bed.

"Yeah, I am." He was stalling but he didn't know why.

"And…?" Ron said sifting uncomfortably.

"And I chose Ginny" he told Ron.

"Thank God" Ron said looking relieved.

"What? What the hell is with you?" Harry asked, appalled.

"It was a test. To see if you actually like Ginny. If you had said that you chose me than you would have failed, but you didn't; so you passed. Congratulations." He explained.

"That's mental. But I'm glad I passed." Harry said, smiling.

"Yeah, me too. Now lets go get dressed, then go down for breakfast." Ron replied standing up. Within half an hour, they were both showered and dressed and heading down stairs for breakfast. As they entered the kitchen, they were laughing at the reactions that Ron had gotten last night.

"Haha yeah mate you should've seen your face!" Ron laughed. They immediately stopped laughing at the expressions in the kitchen. Percy and George where looking murderous. Hermione was looking confused and angry. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked upset, but the worse one was Ginny. She looked hurt, mad, and a few other things Harry couldn't identify.

"Great news!" he said trying to calm everyone before they killed him "I passed the test!"

"Yeah he did" Ron said trying to help him.

"What test?" Ginny asked trying to control her voice.

"Ron decided that he needed to know whether or not I actually like you. So he gave me the ultimatum and I gave him the right answer." He explained quickly. Ron nodded.

"And what was that answer?" Percy asked menacingly.

"Ginny" Ron said simply. Ginny broke out in a huge smile and walked up to Harry and kissed him.

"Oh grow up Ron!" Ginny said when they broke apart to see him retching. The day passed with Ginny and Harry only an arms length away from each other. The ordeal with Ron seemed to have strengthened their relationship. That night, Harry walked Ginny to her bedroom door to say a proper good night without having to deal with Ron.

"Good night Harry." Ginny said after a very long kiss.

"Good night Ginny. I love you," he said, wondering what she would say.

"I love you too Harry" Ginny smiled and gave him one last kiss before going into her room. He smiled as he went into his room to get ready for bed.

_Today has been a very good day _was the last thing he thought before falling asleep.

**Aww how sweet!! **

**I decided since I haven't updated in a while,**

**that I would end this chapter on a happy note. **

**What do you think? **

**Review! Please!**


	11. Harry's 18th Birthday

The morning of his birthday, Ginny, Hermione and Ron walked up to Bill's room (where Harry was now permanently sleeping as it didn't make sense for him to move between Ron's and Bill's room depending on whether or not Teddy was there.). Hermione was floating a breakfast tray as they entered the room. Ginny flopped on his bed to wake him up. Harry sat up quickly and reached for his wand before realizing who it was. He relaxed and slumped against his pillows.

"Thanks Ginny. I needed the adrenaline." He said sarcastically, putting on his glasses.

"You're welcome," she said kissing his cheek, "Happy birthday" Hermione put the tray of food on his lap.

"Thanks Hermione" he started eating the scrambled eggs. Ron reached over to get a piece of bacon. Ginny slapped his hand away.

"You're such a pig Ron. It's his birthday and you've already eaten," said Hermione.

"And yet you snog him on a regular basis." Ginny replied. Harry started laughing, accidently inhaling his eggs. He quickly took a sip of orange juice and stopped coughing.

"Nice" Ron commented. Harry threw his napkin at him. As he ate, they talked and laughed. When he was finished, they left him to get dressed.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw a small pile of gifts on the end of the table. Mrs. Weasley sat him behind it and he started opening them. As Ron, George, Mr. Weasley, Percy, and Bill where at work, only Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, Fleur, and Charlie, who was visiting for Bill and Fleur's first anniversary and Ginny's seventeenth birthday, where there to watch. He got _The Auror Handbook_ from Ron and Hermione. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave him a new cloak.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley. I've been needing one." He gave her a hug. George gave him the usual large box of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products. Percy gave him some new quills. Bill, Fleur, and Charlie gave him a new owl. She was a snowy owl, like Hedwig, but she had a slight spattering of light brown dots across her back.

"Wow thanks Fleur, Charlie." He was at a loss for words, "what should I name her?"

"Ef I may make a suggestion. 'Arry I zink zat 'Hibou' would be a wonderful name." Fleur said. Hermione nodded her approval

"And that means what exactly?" he asked.

"Oh Harry, it means 'owl' in French." Hermione said awed.

"Its such a pretty name" Ginny agreed. So it was decided, the owl's name was Hibou. With that decided, Harry returned to his presents. From Hagrid, he opened the box to find a small cache of photos. Upon further inspection, he found that they were of his parents, Sirius, Remus, (unfortunately) Peter, him, Ron and Hermione. He saw pictures from his first year to his sixth. There were even a few with him and Ginny sitting under a tree by the lake at Hogwarts. Smiling, he showed the pictures to the group of waiting Weasleys.

"Hmm…I wonder when he took that picture," said Ginny, indicating the one of them by the lake.

"I dunno, but I'll ask him the next time I see him." Harry replied.

"Speaking of which Harry, we got our Hogwarts letters today." Hermione informed him, looking nervous.

"We?" he asked.

"Yes, they want you, me and Ron to come back to take our N.E.W.T. s. I think I'm going, but I also need to find my parents. Ron said that he's not going, so now it's your turn. Are you going?" she said quickly.

"I cant Hermione." He replied, not looking her in the eye.

"Harry, you can go through Auror Training another time, like after you finish school." Hermione argued.

"It's not that. I can't walk through the corridors again without remembering the horrible things that happened to me. Every time I walk by the lake, I remember the second task and nearly drowning. I can't walk by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with out reliving what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Voldemort lost the battle, he can't hurt anyone else but he's winning up here" he gestured to his head "last night, I was back in the graveyard watching him kill Cedric and try to kill me. Its not that I don't want to, I just _cant._" He ended his little speech, not looking at anyone.

" 'Cant' or 'wont'?" Hermione inquired.

"Cant. Physically cant, not yet anyway. I might be able to if a few years, but not yet." He retorted

"What about Ginny? Don't you want to go back to school and have her in nearly all your classes?" she asked angrily.

He picked up his gifts. Not wanting to continue respond, he went up to his room to put his presents away. No sooner had he finished than he had a knock on his door.

"It's open," he said gruffly. He heard it open and close, he turned around.

"Sorry about that, I didn't know she was going to try to guilt trip you into it." Ginny said, walking over to him and giving him a hug.

"Its ok. It not your fault. Cant say I'm surprised though…wonder if she did the same to Ron." He was rambling, but he didn't care; he needed to fill the silence.

"Yeah she did actually. She went on and on about how important school was. She gave you an easier time of it to be honest." She informed him, "I can't believe she brought me into it. I told her not to, I told her that you can make your own decisions."

"I want to go back, to see if I can have one normal year of school. I'd love to have you in my classes, but I'm afraid that if I go back, I'll lose my mind, or worse." He replied.

"I know and I'm okay with that. Anyway, you've already decided to become an Auror and I'd rather you follow your ambitions than do what Hermione tells you." Ginny told him, "and now she's ruined your birthday."

"I don't mind. I've had worse, much worse."

"I know, and that scares me. I'll do my best to make it up to you though." She smiled an evil smile.

"Why do I get the feeling that if your brothers find out about this, they'd kill me?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"Because they would," she said kissing him. It was a better kiss than the one she gave him on his seventeenth birthday. They kissed for a good ten minutes, before deciding that they need to go back down stairs before things went to far.

Upon their arrival, Hermione said "Can I talk to you for a moment, Harry?"

"Sure" he said coolly. They walked into the sitting room and closed the door.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. It wasn't fair and I'm sorry. I just wanted one of you to come." She apologized.

"It's alright, I understand. But look at it this way: you can now focus on your work and not have to worry about whether or not Ron and I have done our work." He reasoned. She gave him a big smile and nodded before hugging him. They walked back into the kitchen just in time to see Hermes arriving with a letter.

"Its for you, Harry" Mrs. Weasley said handing him the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday. Eighteen is a big day; it's nearly as big as turning seventeen. I know it's an odd request but I was wondering if I could bring someone to your party tonight. Her name is Audrey and we've been dating for a while. I know you hate the attention, and this might help alleviate some of it. I understand completely if you don't want her to come, as it is your birthday. Let me know as soon as possible, and if we could keep this between us, I'd really appreciate it._

_-Percy_

He finished reading and quickly scribbled a reply on the back, using one of his new quills.

_Percy,_

_I have no problem with Audrey coming. I think your mum would like to know that she's feeding another person, so if you want I can tell her that there's another person coming. Thanks for the quills, they work really well._

_-Harry_

He sent it with Hermes and joined in the conversation about tonight's festivities. Soon it was lunchtime and with it brought the arrival of George and Ron. They finished their lunch of sandwiches and went out to play quidditch. It was Charlie and Ginny and, against George and Harry. Each team had a seeker (Charlie and Harry) and one chaser. Ron played keeper for both teams and Hermione was score keeper/ referee. They played for the afternoon each team winning off and on. They had been ordered not to enter the kitchen unless it was unavoidable, as Mrs. Weasley was working on Harry's birthday dinner. They added more players as the family returned from work. Soon the only person missing was Percy, who had sent word to Mrs. Weasley that he was going to be arriving with a date. This had sent her into overdrive. Fleur, Andromeda, Hermione, and Ginny were now assisting her. The others had offered to help, but Mrs. Weasley said 'the Weasley men can't cook, all they can do is eat' and Harry wasn't allowed to help, as it was his birthday. Soon it was time to eat.

"Wow, this looks great Mrs. Weasley. Thanks" harry said as they sat down outside in the orchard. Just as they where tucking in to steak and kidney Percy and Audrey arrived.

"Hello all. This is Audrey…my girlfriend. Audrey this is my mother and father. That's Bill and his wife Fleur. Over there is Charlie, George, Ron and his girlfriend Hermione Granger. That's Andromeda Tonks and her grandson and Harry's godson Teddy Lupin. And this is my sister Ginny and her boyfriend and birthday boy, none other than Harry Potter." Percy introduced them.

"Hello, I'm Audrey" she said. She has shoulder-length light brown hair and gray-blue eyes. She was, to be honest, slightly plain looking. Audrey was shorter that Percy, but only just.

"Hello Audrey. How are you?" Mrs. Weasley asked gesturing for Audrey sit down next to her. Percy took the seat on Audrey's other side and started talking to Charlie who was across from him.

"So, Audrey, what do you do?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I work for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. I'm a liaison for my department and the minister and the other departments." She responded.

"That's where we meet, Dad, at a meeting with the department liaisons and the minister. I was there on the minister's behalf" Percy boasted, puffing out his chest slightly.

"Percy! Don't brag. People will think you're conceded." Audrey scolded, "that's what got you in trouble in the first place. You're lucky they forgave you." the Weasleys sat there shocked, as Percy nodded in agreement then apologized for his boasting.

"Now, according to Percy, it's Harry's birthday and I'd hate to take away from it by imposing. Harry it is all right by you that I'm here right?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course its alright. Percy owled me earlier today asking if it was." Harry replied.

"And you didn't tell me! Or anyone else?" Ginny nearly screamed.

"He asked me not to." Harry said simply.

"Because it's your birthday, I'm going to let you off the hook. Next time, you tell me. Got it?" she said forcefully.

"Yes ma'am" he said grinning.

"Poor bloke: he thinks she's kidding" George muttered, just loud enough for the whole table to hear him. Unfortunately for him, this included Ginny.

"I was kidding, I don't care that he didn't tell me. Percy asked him not to and we were going to find out soon anyway. What's it matter?" Ginny said, eyes flashing, this was all a lie but as it was Harry's birthday and she couldn't argue with him today, she was taking it out on her brothers.

"Ok, ok you're right. I'm sorry" George said quickly. The rest of dinner passed without incident. As it turned out, Audrey was a very nice person. She was quiet and smart, finishing first of her class at Hogwarts. She was a year younger than Percy and had one sister, Lillian, who was a year behind Ginny. They ended dinner and as it was nearing ten at night, they went to bed. Audrey went home. Mrs. Weasley tried to get her to stay saying it was to late to Apparated and that she was too tiered, but to no avail. Harry fell in bed that night, thoroughly exhausted. And for the first time in weeks, he didn't have a nightmare.

**Did you like it?**

**Hermione was…hmm…how to describe her?**

**Do you like Audrey? I haven't decided how Percy-like she's going to be…so if you have any suggestions, they'd be more than welcome.**

**Anyway tell me what you think. **

**Please? It'd make me happy.**

**And it'd make me update faster.**


	12. Potter Manor

"Harry, wake up; you have to come see this" Ginny woke him up the day after Bill and Fleur's anniversary.

"I'm up, I'm up. What do I have to see?" he asked groggily. She took his hand and dragged him up to Ron's room. She quietly pushed the door open to see Ron and Hermione asleep on the bed. They stood there for a few seconds before going down to Harry's room.

"Haha I cant believe it!" Ginny said grinning.

"Hmm…I wonder whether or not we should wake them up, or wait for your mum to…" he pondered, also grinning.

"That's brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?" she said, impressed.

"I dunno, lets get dressed then go get breakfast." He suggested. She agreed and left. He hurriedly got dressed then walked down to the kitchen.

"Good morning dear, you're up rather early." Mrs. Weasley greeted him setting a plate of food in front of him.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep" he lied smoothly. He started eating as Ginny entered the kitchen.

"Morning Mum. Good morning Harry" she said giving him a kiss.

"Good morning Ginny dear…where's Hermione?" she asked placing Ginny's breakfast in front of her.

"I don't know. She wasn't in her bed." Ginny informed her mother. Mrs. Weasley looked nervous. She left the kitchen, and they soon heard her on the stairs.

"Nicely done" he complimented

"Thank you. You were great." She replied. They heard a muffled scream coming from upstairs. Harry ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Ginny was close on his heals. They reached Ron's room and where met by a grumpy looking George. Mrs. Weasley looked murderous, Hermione was mortified and Ron's face was the same color of his hair.

"What on earth where you thinking?" Mrs. Weasley nearly screamed.

"Mum! Nothing happened! Harry, Ginny, Hermione and I where up here talking last night, then Ginny left to go to bed. The three of us talked for another hour or so then Harry left. Hermione and I continued talking until we fell asleep." Ron explained quickly not looking anyone in the eye. Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry and Ginny.

"Is that true?" she demanded of them. They nodded. She glared at Ron and Hermione.

"Although, I am pleased to hear that nothing happened, I warn you that if I find out this happens again, the consequences will be severe." She threatened.

"Mum, we're both of age and if nothing happens, why should it matter if we sleep together?" Ron countered. His face was no longer red and the look on his face it was clear that he wasn't going take this lying down.

"Because you and Hermione are not married, and that type of behavior should only happen when you are married. It's how your father and I raised you and your brothers" She replied angrily.

"Yeah, because Bill and Fleur only slept together until _after_ they were married." Ron said sarcastically.

"This conversation is over. We will be continuing this discussion when your father gets home from work." She said and stormed out of the room. George followed going back to bed.

"Blimey mate, did you really need to attack Bill and Fleur like that?" Harry asked sitting down on the camp bed, that had for some reason, never been removed.

"Yes I did. She acts like I'm still five! Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is if all we're doing is sleeping!" he fumed.

"Only that she has to admit that her youngest son isn't a little boy anymore" Hermione said, speaking for the first time. Harry and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"I want to warn you that I'm going to fight her on this. And I'll probably end up moving out." Ron said, mainly looking at Hermione.

"Alright Ron. You can stay at Grimmauld place if you want." Harry offered.

"That'd be great. Then if they kick you out, we can work on making it more inhabitable." Ron said, getting excited.

"You do realize that if you move out, I'll have to also?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but that's the beauty of it. And anyway wont it be fun for the three of us to live there again?" Ron replied.

"Yeah it'll be a blast getting stuck here again," Ginny said sarcastically.

"Oh right, Ginny, you'd come visit and when you come of age you could move in if you wanted." Ron suggested.

"We'd come visit. It wouldn't be like last year," Harry said, putting his arm around her. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

"Well, we have to see each other at least every other day." She reasoned.

"Alright, you can stop by any time you want. I promise." He replied. They split up soon after to get dressed then met back up in Ron's room where they talked about the prospect of moving out until lunch.

Mrs. Weasley was still irritable when they entered the kitchen.

"So I was thinking that I need to go see my houses" Harry began, just like they had planned.

"That's a great idea," Hermione said.

"Yeah mate sounds good." Ron commented.

"Then I was thinking that I might move into Grimmauld Place, you know to be closer to work" Harry said apprehensively.

"What's wrong with being here?" Mrs. Weasley started "and you haven't even started work yet!"

"Nothing's wrong with being here; I love it here, but I think its time I was on my own." He justified, knowing it was useless, "I'd still come by here a lot, I just hate being a burden and now that no one's trying to kill me or you, for that matter, it's the perfect opportunity."

"You are not a burden. We love having you here and don't want you to leave." Mrs. Weasley argued.

"Mrs. Weasley! All I'm going to do is go visit my property, I'll decide from there. And if I do move out, I'll come visit everyday." He responded

"You better. I wouldn't be the only one upset if you suddenly disappeared again" she said, looking stern then glancing at Ginny.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley, I don't plan on mysteriously disappearing for a while." He replied, also glancing at Ginny.

They ate then readied themselves to leave for Harry's estates. Hermione had her beaded bag, full of food, cloaks, the invisibility cloak and other things that she thought that they might need. They walked to the Apparition point and, Hermione grasping Ron and Harry's hand. Harry took hold of Ginny's and Disapperated to Potter Manor. They arrived outside of a large iron gate. To both sides where stone pillars that broke up the fence periodically as it ran around the estate. On the left pillar was a gold plaque that gleamed in the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, it read _Potter Manor._

"Um…Harry, how do you suppose we get in?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked at the gate. It was locked. He walked up to it and reached a hand out to it. His intent was to examine the gate further, but to his, and the other three's, surprise the chain binding the gate closed formed a head and started speaking in a gruff, rattling voice.

"State your name." It ordered at Harry.

"Umm…Harry Potter" Harry said, uncertainly.

"Full name and parentage" it replied, sounding agitated.

"Harry James Potter, son of James Charlus and Lily Ann Evans Potter." He said, slightly impressed that he had remembered his parents' full names after reading them so long ago.

"Welcome home, Master Potter" the head said suddenly sounding polite and gracious. The head disappeared and the gate swung open to allow them entry. They slowly started up the winding dirt drive.

"Wow that was so weird. I felt like we were back at Malfoy Manor, didn't you?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, I kept expecting Greyback to appear and start yelling that he caught Harry Potter." Ron agreed.

"'Master Potter'? What the hell was that about?" Harry said.

"Well it is a manor. And you are the owner of it." Ginny said, taking his hand. They stopped short, having just seen the house in front of them. If you could call it a house, that is. It was a brick estate, towering above everything. It was four stories tall and had giant mahogany front doors. The driveway curved around a plot of grass and went back to the gate. On the circular parch of grass was a large fountain that emptied into a duck pond. They started up the stairs to get to the doors, glancing behind them to get one last look at the front lawn. Harry opened the door and led the group into the entry hall. It was a large room with another fountain in the center of the room. The room was painted red with gold trim with a white marble floor. On the other side of the fountain, was a marble staircase, much like the one at Hogwarts. They looked around as they heard footsteps. A house elf hurried to them. When it reached Harry, it sunk into a deep bow.

"Master Potter has returned! It is such an honor to finally meet you Master." She said in a high, slightly squeaky voice. She was wearing the usual pillowcase like garment.

"My name is Caski, Sir, and I is the head house elf of Potter Manor." The little elf said.

"'Head house elf'? Do you mean to say that there are more?" Hermione asked, astounded.

"Yes miss. There are several other house elves that work at all Potter estates. I is the one in charge of all of them." Caski replied.

"Caski, I am Harry Potter and these are my friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and my girlfriend, Ginny Weasley." Harry introduced them, Caski bowing each time.

"Will you give us a tour of Potter Manor?" Ginny asked.

"If that is what Mistress wants, then Caski will be more than happy to" Caski said.

"I thought that the mistress was married to the master. Why did she call Ginny 'mistress'?" Ron asked as they followed the elf.

"Maybe because since I'm not married, the house elves mistress is the closest thing, which would be Ginny." Harry reasoned as they climbed the stairs. The others nodded, but soon forgot about it as they saw the house. If they had thought the outside was impressive, it was nothing compared to the inside. They found that the Potters enjoyed their comforts. There was a gym, a huge dinning room that could fit the entire Order of the Phoenix and all the Weasleys and still have room to spare. The kitchen was smaller than the one at Hogwarts, barely. There was a large formal sitting room and a family sitting room. There was also a Muggle entertainment center. It was something, Harry was sure, that Dudley would have had a heart attack if he could see it. There was a large television complete with surround sound and VCR and DVD players. There was also a movie collection that took up an entire wall. In the center of the room were two sofas and a handful of overstuffed armchairs. The library was bigger than the one at Hogwarts and had both Muggle and wizarding books. Hermione wanted to stay in the library to examine it further, but they made her come with them to finish the tour. After seeing the small medical room, they came upon an alcove with two doors, standing side by side.

"This is the Apparition Room and this" Caski indicated the door next to it "is the Floo Room. Any visitors who have been granted permission may Apparated or Floo into either of these rooms. Now we will move on to the bedrooms." They walked up to the third floor.

"There are four bedroom wings. The H wing, the J wing, the N wing and the C wing. Only Potters by birth have a wing. Wings are named after the first letter of their first name. H is Master Harry, J is Master James, N is Master Neil, and C is Master Charlus." Caski explained.

"So there are only four bedrooms?" Ron asked.

"No sir, there are four wings. Each wing has a master bedroom, a common room, a study and several guest bedrooms." The elf clarified. "Would master Harry like to see the wings?" he nodded and soon found that all the wings where basically the same with only slight variations. The rooms where different colors: Harry's wing's color theme was blue, his dad's was red, Neil's was green, and Charlus's was yellow and orange. James had turned his study into what seemed like a planning headquarters. There were scamatics and plans scattered around. Harry saw outlines for the Marauder's Map and instructions on how to become an Animagus. In another room there was a crib, with toys strewn around the floor. There were also pictures everywhere. It seemed that James had an obsession with his camera. There were pictures from everything. To eating in the Great Hall to one of Remus sleeping, there was a picture of everything. They ended the tour with the back lawn. There was a garage that held several cars and maintenance tools like a lawn mower. The Potters had a lake for swimming and lots of huge trees and a few tree houses. There was also a quidditch pitch and a large selection of brooms. Harry, Ron and Ginny were about to go for a quick fly when Caski stopped them.

"Master Harry, it is time for dinner. You should get washed up beforehand," she told him.

"Ok, we'll be up in a second." He replied.

"What are we having for dinner?" Ron asked as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Steak with mashed potatoes and green beans and treacle tart for dessert." She replied before disappearing with a loud crack. They put the brooms away and headed back up to the house. They washed up and headed into the smaller dining room (the other one was only used for important events or when there are more than four people eating). As they ate they talked about the incredible house and everything in it.

"I think I'm going to stay here tonight." Harry said during dessert. It was a thought that had been nagging at him since they met Caski.

"Mum wont be to happy with that." Ron said.

"I warned her this was coming, and its just one night. I'll even invite all of your family to dinner tomorrow to make up for it." He added as an after thought.

"I think that might work. She sees this place, the kitchen, eats the food and you're in the clear." Ron said.

"And you could come back tomorrow, when ever you want." Harry said, noticing that Ginny didn't look too happy with the prospect of being away from each other until this time tomorrow.

"I think that would be alright." Ginny nodded.

"Do you have any clothes?" Hermione asked.

"I'm sure there are some clothes here." Harry said. They said their good byes and went up to the Floo Room. Ginny gave him one last hug.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he said before she stepped into the fireplace and was whisked away by the green flames. Alone, he walked up to his wing and then to his study. He sat there trying to wrap his head around the fact that he owned the whole house.

~******~

At the Burrow, Ginny was lying in bed, unable to sleep. She had gotten so used to Harry in the other room that now that he was away for the night, she couldn't get to sleep. Mrs. Weasley had not been happy about Harry staying, but had accepted his decision as he was of age. She did intend to tell him tomorrow at dinner that he was expected to give her more warning in the future. Ginny got up and walked into Harry's room. She sat down on the bed and settled in. she was asleep with in seconds. She woke up the next morning to yelling and people running up and down the stairs.

"She better have not gone back to Potter Manor" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Maybe she's in Harry's room." Hermione suggested.

"Why would she be there?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, why was Hermione in your room?" George replied. From what she could hear, everyone froze for a split second before running up the stairs to Harry's room.

"Ginny! What are you doing in here?" Ron demanded.

"Sleeping" she replied irritably.

"Why are you in here?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I couldn't sleep so I came in here to get a change of scenery, and fell asleep." She explained, truthfully.

"Alright, well breakfast is ready. Get dressed and come down." Her mum said turning to leave.

"What? She doesn't get yelled at? She did, as much as Hermione and I did and all you have to say is 'breakfast is ready'? How is that fair?" Ron complained.

"Harry wasn't in the room or even in the house, unlike you." she replied icily before heading down to breakfast. It was Saturday so the whole family, minus Charlie, was in the kitchen when Ginny came down. They ate and talked about Potter Manor. Throughout the conversation Ginny was quiet and didn't say much. She was trying to eat as quickly as possible without being obvious about it.

"Mum, can I go to Potter Manor?" Ginny asked when she had finished.

"Ginny dear, we're going there for dinner. Why don't you wait till then? Let Harry explore his house and have some time alone." She said. Shortly after lunch, Harry's owl flew through the open window. Hibou landed on the table and stuck her leg out. Ron untied the letter to see who it was for.

"It just says 'Weasleys'" Ron informed them.

"Read it aloud" Mr. Weasley suggested. Ron opened the envelope and began to read aloud:

_Dear Weasleys,_

_I have been informed by Caski that tonight will be a formal dinner and have just spent the last two hours trying on dress robes. This elf is driving me mad. I'm getting bossed around by a house elf. According to her, my family always encouraged the house elves to speak their minds. She started yelling at me because I don't know my colors. How the hell am I supposed to know the difference between army green and olive green? She decided that I am going to wear black dress robes because it brings out my hair. Caski has also been pestering me on what you want for dinner. If you have any suggestions, they are welcome. Dinner is at seven. Come early please._

_--Harry_

"Poor bloke" Bill said.

"Two hours? It's a wonder that he hasn't killed himself!" Mr. Weasley commented looking grave.

"Well this changes everything" Mrs. Weasley started, "We need to get ready. You all have dress robes, correct?" the Weasleys nodded and dispersed to go get ready. At 6:30 the Weasleys gathered in the kitchen, then Apparated (Ginny with her father) to the gate. They looked at the head forming in front of them.

"State your business" it commanded in the same rattling, gruff voice.

"Dinner" Ron said

"With?" it replied.

"Harry Potter" Ron said looking uncertain.

"Your names" the gate ordered

"Weasleys" Ron informed it.

"I will ask the house if you are welcome. One moment." The head told them before turning around and saying loudly, "the Weasleys are here for dinner with Master Harry. Am I to grant them permission?"

"Any one with the surname 'Weasley' is to be admitted without question, unless I say otherwise." Came the reply. The gate swung open and the Weasleys proceeded up the drive.

"That was weird" George said, glancing over his shoulder back at the gate.

"I wonder who answered it. The voice didn't sound like Harry." Percy observed, putting his arm around Audrey. They grew quiet as the house came into view.

"Wow that's some house" Bill commented. They walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. It opened and they came inside. They were surprised not to se Caski or Harry. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were showing the others around when they heard yelling.

"DOES IT MATTER WHAT COLOR MY SOCKS ARE?" Harry's voice yelled.

"Yes it does. Go upstairs and change…NO! Use the back stairs. I think our guests have arrived and we don't want them to see you like _that_!" Caski said forcefully. Caski came into view.

"Please excuse that little outburst. Master Harry has been a little touchy today." Caski explained. They were introducing themselves when a loud THUMP followed by an "OW" came from upstairs. Harry came down the stairs a few seconds later rubbing his head.

"Oh Harry. Are you okay?" Ginny asked walking over to him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just hit my head on a low ceiling." He replied.

"Well done Harry" Ron said, "now lets eat!" with that, they walked into the large dining room for dinner.

**Sorry for the delay but I gave you an extra long chapter to make up for it. Caski is OCC as far as house elves are concerned but I needed some comedic relief and there she was ready to serve. Please review!!!**


	13. Dinner at Potter Manor

"Ugh, that was a good dinner." Ron said pushing his chair back and rubbing his stomach.

"Thank you, sir. We is very excited to have guests." Caski replied clearing dishes. Soon there after, Harry took the Weasleys on a tour of Potter Manor. Mr. Weasley loved the muggle entertainment room and the muggle books in the library. When they finished they went back to the dining room to say their good-byes and get their cloaks.

"If the Wheezys would like, they is more than welcome to be sleeping here." Caski offered after getting the cloaks.

"As it is rather late, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea. As long as we wont be a bother" Mrs. Weasley added as an afterthought.

"No not at all." Harry said as Caski went into the kitchen.

"But we need clothes" Mrs. Weasley said.

"No worries. Caski will make sure that you have clothes"

"Yes it's no trouble at all. Master Harry will tell you where you can stay." Caski's voice floated in through the kitchen. She appeared holding a large roll of paper. "Here is a map, Master Harry, so's you can see all the options."

"Thanks Caski" he said taking the map and spreading it out on the table. He scanned it, looking for his room. "Right so my room is the master bedroom of H-wing. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you can stay in…J-1" he said pointing to the room as he got to it. "Bill and Fleur…how about J-2? Ron you can stay in H-3. Hermione…in H-4. George, you in…J-3, and Percy and Audrey in J-4. Charlie, how about J-5? That leaves Ginny." He scanned the map, thinking. _Where can I put her?_

"Master Harry, if I is able to make a suggestion for the sleeping place of Mistress Ginny?" Caski asked. Bill looked at Percy and mouthed '_Mistress Ginny?'_ Percy shrugged.

"Hasn't stopped you before" he muttered, then said louder, "go ahead"

"I is thinking that she would like H-1," she said looking proud of herself.

"No, she can't stay there because—" he stared at her incredulously.

"What's the matter?" George asked.

"Harry, I don't care where I sleep. Its fine." Ginny tried to calm him down.

"Each wing belongs to a Potter. N-wing belonged to Neil Potter; C-wing belonged to Charlus Potter, J-wing to James Potter and H-wing to me. The wings each have a master bedroom and a handful of guest rooms." He explained. "The rooms are all given a shorter name, the wing letter and the room number. The master bedroom is also known as N-1, C-1, J-1, and H-1." He continued, and then turning to glare at Caski, "H-1 is my room."

"Oh. Well then…" George said, uncomfortable.

"So where is she going to sleep?" Bill asked, cracking his knuckles and giving Harry a menacing look.

"Master Harry, sir, I is very sorry to interrupt but you has mail" Caski interrupted.

"Alright. I'll be there in just a second." He replied then turned to the Weasleys. "You can decide where Ginny sleeps. Anywhere is fine. I can always go sleep in C-wing if she has her heart set on H-1" he went into the kitchen to find a rather thick envelope. He sat down at the table. As he opened it he noticed the Ministry crest. He took out the first sheet of paper, which seemed to be the explanation to the rest of the stack.

_Mr. H. J. Potter,_

_Enclosed is the paperwork for becoming an Auror. Please fill it out prior to your leaving for training camp on the second of September at 10:00 am. You will be taken to the facilities by portkey (also enclosed). You will not be permitted to have visitors or leave the training camp, unless on a job for the Aurors. You will also not be allowed to receive owls and not allowed to send them. This is mainly because you need to concentrate and these things are distractions. Not only will you be training for being an Auror, you will also be getting a few crash courses to fill in the gaps where you would have gotten your N.E.W.T.s requirements. You will not need to bring many clothes; the clothes you will bring will be for recreational purposes only. You will be allowed to bring items of a personal nature. Pictures of friends and family, books, and other keepsakes are encouraged to help keep homesickness away. You will return on the day after your 20__th__ birthday, this is to give the illusion of you being at training for the three-year period. If you behave and do exceptionally well in classes, you could be permitted to leave training early. It also works visa versa. We will be seeing you on the second._

_Auror Office_

_Ministry of Magic_

He finished reading and turned to the forms. They where all questions about his grades, medical history, strengths and weaknesses, and who to contact incase of injury or death. Deciding to fill it out later, he put it back into the envelope. As he stood up he heard a heated argument coming from the dining room.

"I'm going to be of age soon and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You might as well get used to it now, before we start doing anything." Ginny said.

"Well you are not sleeping with him tonight at any rate." Mrs. Weasley stated firmly.

"No matter where you put me, I'm going to end up with him." Ginny challenged. Harry was standing stock-still, debating. If he went in, they would ask his opinion and no good would come out of that. If he stayed standing there, eavesdropping, they might suspect that he was stalling in the kitchen so as not to participate in the argument. He decided to go in but to try to remain as detached from the conversation as possible. He opened the letter again and walked into the dining room. Pretending to read it, he walked over to his seat and spread the paperwork out. He picked up a sheet at random and pretended that he was reading it intently.

"What do you think Harry?" Ginny asked.

"What?" He looked around.

"Where do you think Ginny should sleep tonight?" Hermione clarified.

"Oh, I already told you that it doesn't matter. She can sleep where wherever she wants," replied Harry, turning back to his paperwork.

"Have you heard any of this conversation?" Bill asked.

"No" he lied "I was reading through this and decided to come back because the table in the kitchen isn't big enough for all of this."

"Master Harry, if Caski could be of assistance, I is thinking that Caski could fill out what the Ministry is sending." Caski offered.

"Alright, if you want to. And if you need any help let me know." He said relieved that he wouldn't have to fill out the mountain of paperwork. She collected it and left the room.  
"So its decided then, I'm sleeping in Harry's room." Ginny said quickly, trying to catch them off guard into agreeing with her.

"No absolutely not." Mrs. Weasley was not about to give in easily.

"I have a solution." Harry ventured, not looking at Ginny. "Ginny can sleep in H-1 and I'll sleep in C-1."

"Oh Harry dear, we don't want to put you out. Why doesn't Ginny share with Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley offered.

"Alright that'll work." Ginny said. Hermione nodded her agreement.

"Er—Ron, can I have a word?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Sure mate" Ron responded standing up and following Harry into the kitchen.

"_Muffliato_" Harry cast at the door before turning to Ron, "Hermione's and your rooms connect. There is what looks like two closets that, if given the password, will form an opening between the rooms. I only tell you this because I have a feeling your mum is going to be patrolling H-wing."

"Yeah I reckon you're right. Thanks for the tip. So what's the password?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" Harry grinned.

"That's appropriate" Ron said also grinning. They walked back into the dining room. Everyone except for Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley had gone up to bed."

"Please act responsibly. And you—" Mrs. Weasley turned to Ginny, "_stay in your room_" Ginny nodded angrily. Mrs. Weasley left to go find her husband. The group walked up to H-wing. Harry showed Ron his room and led the girls to their room. Harry opened the door and stood back to let them through.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, as he was sitting at the desk.

"Hey. Cool isn't it?" Ron said pointing towards the connecting door.

"Yes it is. Harry did you know about this?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah why else would I give you these rooms?" Harry replied sitting on one of the beds. "Oh! And I forgot to mention, each room has _Muffliato_ cast on it so you cant be heard." Ginny sat down next to him, snuggling into his chest. Hermione, under the pretext of wanting to see if Ron had any books in his room, took Ron into his room and closed the door.

"I better get out of here before your mum comes to see if we are where we're supposed to be" Harry said standing up. Ginny got up too, she put her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss while pushing him back on the bed. They stayed like that, snogging, until Harry came to his senses a few minutes later.

"Ginny, we can't do this now. Your brother is in the next room," he said sitting up.

"Then we can go into your room. And anyway, Ron and Hermione wont be back in here until morning. At least according to Hermione…" Ginny grinned wickedly.

"But there's the difference, they're both of age." Harry argued, trying to erase that image from his head.

"Then we can just sleep." She said.

"Alright, we'll sleep. You can sleep in here and I'll sleep in my room." He kissed her forehead and stood up.

"Fine. But when I turn seventeen, you're not getting off this easy," she huffed. He laughed and left.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry told them about the letter he had received last night. No one was happy about the fact that he was to be gone for a year and a half and was not permitted to send or receive letters. Nor was he to leave the training camp unless on a mission.

"I have one request while I'm gone." Harry said after nearly half an hour of complaining about the unfairness of it all.

"And what iz dat 'Arry?" Fleur asked, pouring Bill more coffee.

"That you, only if you want to, come here for Christmas, Easter and other big occasions." Harry replied.

"I think we can do that. Thank you so much dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled. The talk then turned to Ginny's seventeenth birthday. Harry's stomach plummeted. He had been racking his brains for weeks trying to think of something he could give her. It was a week away and still he had thought of nothing that she would want or need. Due to the prospect of them being apart for another year, made him want to give her something to remember him by, without her brothers wanting to kill him for it.

Soon after breakfast, the Weasleys went home, and Harry went with them. Their plan was to spend a few days at home then spend the days surrounding Ginny's birthday at Potter Manor. The day before their departure from the Burrow, Harry decided on Ginny's present. The how's, when's and where's where still fuzzy as was what he would say, but he was semi-confident that she would like it. The Weasleys left for Potter Manor after lunch on the ninth so that they could have plenty of time at Potter Manor. They gathered in the orchard then Apparated into the Manor, via the Apparition Room. Mrs. Weasley had decided that everyone would stay in the same rooms as they had on their previous stay.

"I can't get over how huge this house is!" Ginny said looking out of the window in Harry's room. She was, in theory, helping him unpack his things, but in reality, distracting him from the task and dropping hints on what she wanted for her birthday.

"The sunrise must be really something from this view," she said, giving him a puppy-dog expression.

"I wouldn't know; I'm never wake to see it." Harry laughed, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was heading. "Come on. Lets go down stairs, your brothers are going to be bounding up here any second"

"Oh who cares? I'm going to be seventeen in less than 48 hours, I do NOT need their protection." She argued walking over to the gigantic king-sized four-poster bed. She climbed on it and sat in the middle of the royal blue comforter, leaning against the matching pillows.

"Wow! Your bed is comfortable!" Ginny exclaimed, slightly louder than she meant to.

"HOLY SHIT!" came from down the hall, followed by a stampede of footsteps. Percy, Ron, Bill, and George came running into the room, through the open door. All had their wands drawn and pointed at Harry who was across the room at the dresser, putting his clothes in it.

"What the HELL is going on?" Bill demanded. At this point the rest of the Weasleys including Hermione and Audrey came in the room, having heard George's outburst of 'holy shit'."

"We heard yelling. What's--" Mr. Weasley stopped dead when he saw his son's wands all pointing at Harry.

"Percy, George, and I were coming up to see how H-wing unpacking was going and we had just seen Ron. We were about to go see Ginny, when we heard her voice coming from Harry's room saying: 'Wow! Your bed is comfortable', we ran in here to find this" Bill explained not lowering his wand.

"'This'? What do you mean 'this'? I'm sitting on the bed and he's across the room unpacking!" Ginny's eyes flashed, always a danger sign. "Would you like to hear what actually happened?"

"Ginny" Harry said in a low, warning voice.

"Shut up Harry. We were talking about my birthday. I got tiered of standing, so I sat on the bed. Which by the way, is very comfy and when I inform Harry of this, you buffoons" she indicated her brothers, who were staring at her opened mouthed, "come running in, ready to kill Harry before you even know what's going on. Honestly, its like you don't trust me! Or Harry for that matter! I'm nearly 17; you have to start believing that I can fend for myself at some point! Any way have we EVER given you a reason not to trust either of us?! No! So what reason do you have, other than being idiots, for bursting in here, wands drawn, and ready to attack?" she was now kneeling on the bed, yelling at them, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Ginny, we're sorry" Percy apologized as the others nodded, "we didn't think that--"

"That's exactly my point! You WERENT thinking!" Ginny sobbed climbing of the bed then running to Harry who put his arms around her, rubbing her back. Her brothers stood appalled by what they had just witnessed. Ginny _never_ cried and when she did, she went to Charlie or her mum for comfort. This was the first time they had ever seen her go to someone else. Especially when both Mrs. Weasley and Charlie where present and not the ones feeling her wrath. Ginny sobbed into his chest and held him tightly.

"Give us a minute?" Harry asked. Everyone nodded and left, closing the door.

"I'm sorry about that, but it was necessary" Ginny said wiping her eyes.

"Sorry? For what?" he asked, looking down at her.

"For yelling at you, then yelling at them and crying." She smiled apologetically.

"Ok, so why was that necessary?"

"Well, by crying, I made them realize that if I need something or need a shoulder to cry on, you're my first choice. It used to be that I went to Mum or Charlie, but not any more." She explained. They stayed quite for a few minutes before going downstairs. When they reached the family room, Mrs. Weasley and Hermione rushed up to them.

"Ginny, are you alright?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"I was a wreck, but Harry pulled me back." She smiled.

"Dear, are you sure you're alright?" Mrs. Weasley looked her daughter sternly in the eye.

"Yes Mum." She nodded. Mrs. Weasley walked away.

"Ginny that was incredible! I never knew you could yell that much!" Hermione hugged her.

"Where are my dear brothers?" she spat.

"Getting yelled at by their girlfriends. George and Charlie by your mum." Hermione smiled.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked.

"I'm giving him the silent treatment. I yell at him for everything so I figure that when he actually does something horrible, I'll give him the silent treatment." Hermione replied, pointing to an armchair by the fire. Ron's head was just visible. Harry and Ginny sat down on a couch; Hermione sat on one opposite them. Slowly, Ginny's brothers entered the sitting room, all looking defeated and angry…except for Bill. He looked nervous. They had dinner in near silence, though not for lack of trying.

"I 'ave an announcement" Fleur said shortly after desert. "Bill and I are going to 'ave a baby!" the girls squealed and rushed to hug Fleur. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself. She was close to fainting she was so happy. The men shook Bill's hand, who was smiling weakly.

"When is the baby due?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"May 5th." Fleur answered. Caski, having heard the news, entered the dining room carrying a bottle of champagne. After several toasts, the party split up and went to bed. _Ginny's birthday is the day after next…I hope she likes it…_ was the last thing that ran through Harry's mind before drifting into sleep.

**Ok, so you know the drill. Review. Please. I have 59 total reviews currently. Please help me make it 65 total reviews. **


	14. Ginny's 17th Birthday

**I realized that I had yet to thank everyone who reviewed so here goes: thank you to everyone who has reviewed, put me on story alert, author alert, added me to favorite story or author or even read my story!!**

Harry woke early on the day of Ginny's birthday. He got up when his alarm rang and went to shower. His bathroom door was directly across from his bed and all that was behind the door was a spiral staircase that led up to his massive circular bathroom. In the center was a gigantic bathtub that was more like a swimming pool than a bathtub. There was a toilet that faced away from the windows that occupied about a third of the wall. Another third of the wall was a mirror. The last third looked like a stonewall, but in reality was a hidden door that led to the shower. It was charmed so that you could see out but not in. Harry returned to his room wearing only a pair of boxers, holding a towel. He stopped short when he saw a mane of long red hair. He silently cursed himself for leaving his wand on his nightstand and his door unlocked. He closed the door enough so only his head fit through.

Poking it out he said: "Ginny, what are you doing in here?"

"I came to wake you up. I just got back from the Ministry; I got my Apparition license. Umm…what are you doing in your closet?" she turned around.

"It's not my closet, it's my bathroom. See?" he shook his wet hair at her.

"Ah ok…aren't you going to come give me a happy birthday kiss?" she asked smiling.

"I would but I'm not really ready for it." Harry replied.

"And what would 'getting ready' mean?" she asked tilting her head to one side.

"Umm…well for starters," he glanced down at his now partially exposed chest, "I should get dressed. I dunno, maybe, dry my hair" he smirked.

"Harry, I have 5 brothers. I've seen a male's chest before. And anyway, I've seen yours too." He looked confused so she clarified, "the day after the battle then Madam Pomfrey healed your injuries in the Great Hall. So are you really telling me that I should leave so you can get dressed?" she frowned.

"Yeah, your birthday or not, I'm sure your brothers would kill me if they walked in on you talking to me while I'm half naked. I don't want to even _think_ about what they'd do if I was getting dressed while you were in the room." Harry replied. Ginny sighed and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at the door, which closed then locked with a _click_. Harry, giving up, walked into the room.

"See?" she said, "no big deal" he shook his head and opened his dresser. She walked over as he put on a pair of jeans and started picking through his shirts.

"Why do you still have your quidditch jersey?" she asked, having found it in his closet.

"I dunno, I don't really wear it; it's more of a memory. Caski got it from my aunt and uncle's yesterday along with all my other school stuff." He explained. She nodded.

"Hmmm…this one I think." She said handing him a shirt.

It was green with thin, horizontal blue stripes. He put it on, slipped on his shoes, and then, walked hand in hand with Ginny downstairs to breakfast.

As soon as everyone in the family had eaten, Ginny started opening her presents. Her parents gave her a gold bracelet, when a wizard comes of age, he gets a watch and when a witch comes of age she gets a bracelet with some protective enchantments. Bill and Fleur gave her some casual robes to wear when she finishes school. Charlie gave her a pair of black dragon hide boots. Percy and Audrey gave her a book of quidditch plays, as she was the new captain of the Gryffindor team. Ron and Hermione gave her (with help from Harry) a Cleansweep 12. This quickly sparked a game among the siblings. One team was Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Audrey. The other team was Bill, George, Charlie and Angelina Johnson, who was now dating George, had stopped by to give George an update on the store's progress. Each team had a seeker (Charlie and Harry), a keeper (Ron and George), and two chasers (Ginny and Audrey and Bill and Angelina). Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Hermione sat on the sidelines, watching. They played all day, stopping only for lunch, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Audrey dominating most of the time as Harry was a better seeker, Ron's keeping skills were unbelievable compared to George's, and Ginny and Audrey worked well together. They had just finished a game where Audrey scored 4 goals with in the first 3 minutes and Harry caught the snitch from right under Charlie's nose.

As they landed, Bill said: "Percy, you marry her! You marry her right now! I've never seen ANYONE score that much in such a short period of time!"

"Did you play at school?" George asked.

"No, I would have but I was to busy with school work." She laughed as they put the brooms away.

"So what house were you in?" Angelina asked.

"Ravenclaw, I was in Percy's year." She replied, "but I never got to be a prefect. My friend Penelope Clearwater did though…"

"So how long have you and Percy been going out?" Angelina asked.

"About a year. What about you and George?" she countered.

"3 weeks" George answered, coming up from behind and putting his arm around Angelina's shoulders.

"What about you and Ron, Hermione?" Audrey asked a now slightly pink Hermione.  
"Now THERE is an interesting story." Harry said loudly, having caught up on the conversation.

"Shut up Harry" Ron said. George, Charlie and Bill looked like Christmas had come early.

"No, no! Go on Harry." Charlie said.

"Yes PLEASE go on Harry." George encouraged.

"Harry, say one more word and I tell them all about how you and Ginny got together." Ron clearly did not want anyone to know how he and Hermione had gotten together.

"Ron, about fifty people saw that happen and I want to hear about how you and Hermione got together." Ginny said, she had already heard about it from Hermione, but it had been a long time since George looked that happy and she couldn't bring herself to ruin it. By this time they had reached the dining room.

"Harry, I will tell them what happened at Dumbledore's funeral" Ron argued.

"And I'll tell them what the horcrux said" Harry countered. They glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Why don't you both tell us what you clearly don't want to share?" Bill suggested forcefully.

"No" they said at the same time. Neither wanted to admit their mistakes to the room at large and neither was about to. The rest of dinner passed without incident. The conversation was mainly about Hogwarts, Ginny's birthday, quidditch, and Bill and Fleur's baby. This seemed to appease Mrs. Weasley because she dropped the frequently discussed topic of marriage and grandchildren…for now. After dinner they moved into the sitting room for drinks. Bill and Charlie played chess while George and Ron watched and made suggestions. Ginny, Hermione, Audrey, and Angelina talked in a corner, occasionally glancing at the boys. Percy, Harry and Mr. Weasley talked about happenings at the Ministry while Mrs. Weasley filled glasses and planned dinner for tomorrow. After a while the girls joined the boys.

"So what are you talking about?" Audrey asked sitting on the couch next to Percy.

"The new regime at the Ministry and what Kingsley will do better than his predecessors." Percy replied putting his arm around her.

"Sounds fascinating" Ginny said dryly, "I'm going to bed. Come on Harry"

"WHAT?!" spluttered Ron.

"Why does he have to go with you?" George demanded.

"Do you really want to see him kiss me good-night?" she asked. They shook their heads 'no' and let the subject drop. Ginny however was not about to spend her seventeenth birthday without telling off her brothers for being over protective.

"Honestly, I'm 17 now! I don't care who I go to bed with, its none of your business or concern!" she retaliated, "I don't need your protection any more! That's his job now" she gestured to Harry.

"What if he breaks up with you? Who's going to make him pay for hurting you?" Bill countered.

Ginny turned to Harry: "are you planning on breaking up with me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No I'm not"

"Well that solves that," she said angrily before leaving.

"Master Harry? Can Caski speak with you's a moment?" the house elf asked from the door Ginny had just stormed out of.

"Sure" he said following her into the Entry Hall.

"Caski had a question about the paperwork that Master asked Caski to fill out." She explained. He nodded as a signal for her to continue, "I is wondering who you want told if you is hurt or killed on a job for the Aurors."

"Put Mr. and Mrs. Weasley please. I can always change it if I need to, right?" he replied. The small elf nodded in response. Harry walked up to his room to find Ginny sitting on the bed.

"Took you long enough." She said, "Did my brothers give you a hard time?"

"No; Caski wanted to talk to me about the paperwork." He said sitting next to her. She picked up his hand and moved it around her shoulders and snuggled into his chest.

"Don't you want your birthday present?" he asked her, pulling her closer.

"YES! Wait I thought you already gave it to me? The broom?" she sounded confused.

"Well, I just helped Ron and Hermione buy it, but I got you a different present…if you want it." He offered. She nodded eagerly.

"To be honest, I had no idea what to get you. I know we're going to spend another year apart so I wanted to give you something to remember me by." He smiled weakly.

"I feel like I've heard this before." Ginny laughed lightly, remembering her seventeenth birthday present to him.

"It worked didn't it? Anyway," he stood up and went to his nightstand, "I thought this would be more original" he walked back over to her holding a flat, velvet box. She took it and carefully opened it.

"Oh Harry! Its beautiful!" she said. Inside was a small, gold, heart-shaped locket.

"It was my grandmother's. My granddad was an Auror and he gave this to her just before he left for training." He told her. "He also gave her the key to our vault in Gringotts and told her that she could spend every last Knut if it meant she would still be here when he got back"

"How much did she buy?" Ginny asked

"Nothing; she just told him to come back to her in one piece and alive. And according to my house elf, she wandered around the house wearing his shirts, because they smelled like him and made her feel like he was here." He explained.

"Can I have some of your shirts?" she asked as he helped her put the necklace on.

"Sure, you can take as many as you want." He said. She walked over to his closet and, just like earlier that day, started picking through his shirts. She pulled out his quidditch jersey and an old Christmas sweater from Mrs. Weasley.

"Is that all?" he asked as she put his jersey on over her shirt.

"I'll come back if I want more." She smiled.

"Come on; I'll walk you to your room." He offered. She looked slightly disappointed but agreed none the less. Half an hour later, Harry climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

_She was in the Chamber of Secrets again. Voldemort stood beneath the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Ginny's stomach dropped as she saw Harry lying, unconscious, at Voldemort's feet._

"_Let him go, Tom" she yelled, tears brimming in her eyes._

"_Why should I? Why would I let you have him? I want to kill him. He's gotten away one time too many, but not again. This time, he's MINE" Voldemort screamed at Ginny._

"_Take me! You can have me, kill me instead. Just let him go! Please! Please don't hurt him!" Ginny begged. Voldemort laughed shrilly. He then raised his wand and pointed it at Harry._

"_Avada Kedavra" Voldemort said. There was a flash of green light and Ginny fell to her knees crying as Harry was killed right before her eyes._

"Ginny!" came Ron's voice.

"Ginny, wake up!" Hermione said shaking Ginny's arm.

"I have to go talk to Harry" Ginny cried, sitting bolt up right. Ron and Hermione nodded and went back to Ron's room. Breathing heavily, she got out of bed and went to Harry's room. She walked in quietly and gently woke him up.

"Ginny? Wha's the matter?" he asked groggily.

"I had a nightmare," she told him, through her tears. He moved over on the bed so she could sit down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, wrapping her in his arms. She told him all about it. About how scared she was, about how helpless she felt, she told him everything. He listened and soothed her. He rubbed her back and held her. Slowly she calmed down and they both fell asleep.

Harry woke the next morning feeling well rested. It took him a few seconds before he remembered what had happened last night. He looked down and saw Ginny using his chest as a pillow. She shifted off his chest and looked at him. He smiled down at her and she returned it, sitting up.

"I should go back to my room so Mum doesn't freak out, don't you think?" she said.

"Yeah and I have to go shower. I'll meet you in the common room in" he checked his watch, "fifteen minutes?"

"Works for me." She said giving him a kiss before climbing out of bed and going back to the room she 'shared' with Hermione. This time Harry brought his wand with him to the shower but ended up not needing it. He was just reaching for his jeans on when Hermione walked in.

"Hey, Harry I was wondering if I—" she stopped when she saw what he was wearing or lack there of. Hermione's face got red and she turned and left the room quickly.

"I'm SO sorry! I should have knocked." She yelled through the door, "I just wanted to talk to you for a second. I'll see you at breakfast!" he heard her footsteps signaling that she left. Harry had one leg in his jeans when Ron ran in.

"What was Hermione yelling--" Ron, much like his girlfriend, stopped talking when his eyes fell on Harry. "What the hell was she doing in here with you practically naked?!" he yelled.

"Ron, get out." Harry said more calmly than he felt. _Does he honestly think there is ANYTHING between me and Hermione?!_ He thought. Nearly the whole house had heard Ron's yelling. The Weasleys, Audrey, Angelina, and Hermione all came crashing into Harry's room to find him, still, with one leg in jeans.

"Bloody hell" he muttered quickly pulling his jeans on.

"Boys, what's going on?" Mr. Weasley asked slowly.

"Nothing" Harry said looking directly at Ron; "I was getting dressed when Hermione came running in because she wanted to talk to me about something. She forgot to knock, saw me in as much as you all just did, then ran out. Nothing happened." he repeated.

"Its true Ron; that's all that happened." Hermione said nervously. Ron nodded and left without another word. Harry, assuming the others would follow suit, turned to his closet and started digging to find a shirt. Once he found one he put it on and turned around. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still standing near the door.

"Harry dear, we wanted a word." Mrs. Weasley began.

"Yeah?" he replied sitting in the wooden chair near the small writing desk, putting on his socks.

"We realize that now that Ginny is of age, you will be wanting a more physical relationship. We would like for you to wait for marriage, we realize that after everything you two have been through that it's not fair for you to do so because we want you to, so we have a compromise." She said. Harry and Ginny nodded, so she continued, "we are alright with Ginny sleeping in here as long as that is all you do." They agreed and she turned and left, her husband close behind.

"Not a conversation I thought I'd have with your parents." He chuckled slightly. She smiled and gave him a hug. They went down stairs for breakfast.

"Well that was a fun way to start the day, don't you think Harry?" Charlie asked during breakfast.

"Yeah. Nice 6-pack Harry." George commented, "Quidditch has been good to you."

"That wasn't quidditch." Harry replied, running a hand absently through his hair and putting his arm around Ginny. Everyone at the table stared at him.

"Then what was it?" Charlie nearly growled.

"Horcrux hunting" Harry said calmly. They visibly relaxed and continued to talking. Hermione told Harry that she had been doing research on why she had never found anything on Harry's family being rich. According to her, she found a spell on the Potter's surname. If someone other than a Potter writes down the most wealthy wizarding families, 'Potter' comes out 'Porter'. This is to give the Potter's privacy and keep the Potter kids level headed. This dominated the conversation for the majority of breakfast.

"Master Harry? There is a Ministry man here who is wanting to talk to you." Caski informed Harry after breakfast. "He is up in your study, Master Harry." He nodded and went up to his study. He opened the door to see a man with his back turned. He had brown hair with flecks of gray in it. He was wearing black work robes and had a black leather briefcase. Harry closed the door with a click, which alerted the man to his presence.

" Hello Harry Potter. I am Jim Savage." He said holding out his hand to Harry.

"The auror?" Harry asked shaking Savage's hand.

"Ah, you've heard of me?" the auror asked uncertainly.

"A good friend of mine was an auror." He explained, "Tonks."

"Oh yes. She was a good auror. I was sorry to hear that she was killed." Jim said sadly. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm here."

"Just a bit" Harry smiled.

"Well, it is standard procedure for a person who will be going into Auror training to meet their mentor. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm your mentor." He smiled. "There are a few things that you should know about training. You will be on a team with four other guys. One of you will be chosen to lead the group. I feel it prudent to inform you that you are currently the most qualified to lead. The only thing stopping us from appointing you is your age."

"Fair enough." Harry said.

"Your living quarters are with your team. Each person will have his or her own bedroom and bathroom. You won't need to bring many clothes because we will supply the majority of your clothes, but you are encouraged to bring pictures and other keepsakes. Understand?" Jim ended his speech.

"Yeah thanks for coming Mr. Savage." Said Harry.

"Call me 'Jim,'" he said shaking Harry's hand one last time before departing. Harry stood in his study for a few moments, mulling over everything that Jim had said, before going back down stairs to the Weasleys.

**What do you think? Just another chapter or two before Harry goes to Auror training, and you wont believe the surprises and things that happen there!! Reviews are more than welcome, so please review!! **


	15. The Offer

"Wow mate that's cool! Head of a team and you haven't even finished school!" Ron exclaimed. Harry had just told the Weasleys about Jim Savage while they were in the sitting room waiting for lunch.

"Jim's a good Auror. The fact that he survived the war should prove that." Said Mr. Weasley, who was home from work.

"I can't believe we're going to be apart for another year" Ginny frowned.Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his chest.

"I know, but if you want, I'll get hurt on a mission or two so you can come visit me in the hospital." He smiled.

"Don't do it on purpose. I have a feeling that I'll be spending a lot of time at St. Mungo's this year." She laughed, kissing his cheek. "It is very sweet of you to offer, though…" at this time the conversation ended do to it being lunchtime.

"So what should we do for the rest of the day?" Percy asked after he finished eating his sandwich.

"I saw a pretty big pond when I went for a run this morning, maybe we could go for a swim" Charlie suggested.

"Since when do you run?" Bill asked with a mocking shocked expression.

"I have to keep in shape…for the dragons" he grinned. His brothers roared with laughter, everyone else fell into an uncomfortable silence. Shortly there after, everyone went to change into his or her swimsuits. Harry pulled on his bright green swim shorts and threw a shirt on before heading down to the back doors where everyone was congregating. Once everyone was ready, the Weasleys who didn't have to go to work, Harry, Hermione, and Audrey made their way down to the pond. After a short walk, they arrived at a large pond. There were trees surrounding it and on a few of them were rope swings. They put their towels on the ground and stripped down to their swimsuits. Harry's jaw nearly hit the ground when he saw Ginny. Her bikini was royal blue and covered as little of her as possible with out looking trashy. She caught his stare and grinned.

"I take it that you approve?" Ginny laughed. At a loss for words, he nodded. Ron and Percy were having similar experiences with Hermione and Audrey. Hermione was wearing a bright yellow bikini with red stripes running across it and Audrey a dark green one piece. Fleur and Mrs. Weasley, who weren't going to swim, sat on the towels and talked about the baby.

Ron and Harry were each on one of the rope swings, going back and forth before dropping into the pond.

"That is so much fun!" Harry said, shaking his head like a dog trying to clear his head of water.

"Yeah, this is a great pond for swimming." Ron agreed swimming over to where Hermione and Ginny were standing.

"That looked fun. I'd do it too, but my bikini might fall off…" Ginny said as Harry swam up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"So?" he whispered so Ron wouldn't here. She grinned and swatted his arm.

Percy and Audrey soon joined the group as did Bill and Charlie, via the rope swing. The conversation soon turned into an attempt to get Hermione, Ginny and Audrey to go under the water. The three of them were reluctant to get their hair wet, which was against Ginny's personality. Harry suspected that she was simply doing it for fun and didn't really care one way or the other.

"Alright Gin, I'm going to settle this now." Harry said, picking her up bridal style.

"Don't you dare." She snarled, but a glint in her eyes told him to proceed. Without a second thought, he dropped her. She surfaced seconds later, wiping water off her face and out of her eyes.

"I CAN'T believe you did that!" she stared at him.

"You told me to." He shrugged. She shook her head and crossed her arms, glaring. Her brothers watched this exchange with bated breath while Hermione and Audrey stood quietly not daring to get in the way of Harry and Ginny's first fight. Ginny swam back to the blankets, where she stayed until the rest of the Weasleys came home from work.

"You're seriously mad because I dunked you?" he asked as they walked up to the house to get ready for dinner. She ignored him.

"Fine, be mad at me, but remember this: we're about to spend a year apart, with virtually no communication." He paused to catch his breath, "Why waste the time we have left being mad and not talking to me when you have a year of that ahead."

Ginny was quiet for a moment before saying, "Why are you always right?"

"Not always. I've made some pretty big mistakes and have been dead wrong about some things." He took this to mean that their fight was over so he put his arm around her shoulders.

"So you forgive me for over reacting?" Ginny asked moving closer to him.

"What's to forgive?" he said, "I did something stupid, you did something stupid; it over."

"That's an interesting way to put it" she commented as they entered the house through the kitchen door.

"Master Harry! Master Harry! Caski is needing to talk to you." the little elf ran forward.

"Yeah? What's up?" he asked crouching down to her level as the rest of the Weasleys walked in.

"You have just received a letter from Mrs. Tonks. She is wanting to know if Master Teddy can stay with you for a few days." Caski told him as the Weasleys filed out of the kitchen to go get ready for dinner. Ginny hung back, her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah that sounds great. Will you send her an owl inviting her and Teddy to dinner tonight then put a crib up in my room?" He asked, smiling at the prospect of seeing his godson again.

"Caski already has, Master Harry. They is going to be here in an hour." She said before leaving to check on something in the oven.

"Dinner is being a formal affair tonight" she called as Harry and Ginny left the kitchen.

"So why did you overreact?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Umm…PMS." Ginny smiled as Harry set his jaw uncomfortably and he blushed slightly. They walked to Ginny's room to see all the drawers open and empty.

"What the--" Ginny exclaimed. Harry could not blame her; practically all her clothes were missing.

"Caski" Harry called and with a loud CRACK, the elf appeared.

"Where are my things?" Ginny asked the elf.

"Madam Weasley told Caski that Ms. Ginny would most likely be sleeping in Master Harry's room. Caski is thinking that it would be helpful for ms. Ginny to have her clothes already in her new room." Caski explained. Harry nodded, impressed with his house elf's insightfulness.

Ginny stood, shocked, before: "thank you, Caski. That was very nice of you and I appreciate it."

"'Tis always a pleasure to serve the noble and proud Potter family and their friends." The elf replied before disappearing with another CRACK. An hour later, Harry and Ginny made their way downstairs to greet Andromeda and Teddy before dinner.

"He's getting so big!" Ginny declared, taking him from his grandmother as they sat down for dinner.

"Yes and he's starting to crawl now. I spend most of my days chasing him around the house, making sure he doesn't eat something he shouldn't." Andromeda laughed.

"Hey!" Ginny protested as Harry reached over and took Teddy from her.

"Come on. We have until next week. Relax, Gin." Harry grinned as his godson changed his appearance to look like him and giggled as Harry tickled his stomach.

"Dinner is served" Caski called as food appeared on the tables. They dig in, Harry feeding Teddy who was sitting on his knee.

Half way through dinner, someone knocked on the front door. Caski ran from the kitchen to get the door.

"I thought the front gate was supposed to ask for permission to admit someone." Bill asked.

"Maybe they already had permission or the gate calls directly to Caski" Harry reasoned as the dinning room door opened. Professor McGonagall walked in.

"Good evening Mr. Potter. I am terribly sorry to interrupt your dinner, but this will only take a moment, I assure you." she greeted him.

"Alright, how can I help you?" Harry replied standing up and taking Teddy with him.

"Mr. Potter, this does not only concern you. Arthur, Bill, I would also like you to hear what I have to say and it is in no way a secret, so I would like it if we could do this here." The professor explained, taking the seat Caski provided.

"Certainly Minerva. What can we do?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"We are having trouble finding a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. We have found someone but due to his job, he will be unable to attend all year." McGonagall began, "The school governors have decided that each week he unable to teach, we will find someone who played a part in the war and have them talk about their experiences. Bill, Arthur, Harry, I would like you to come teach. Mr. Potter, I have spoken with Kingsley and he has agreed for you to come…only if you want to of course."

"Yeah sounds great." Harry said. Bill and Arthur looked at their spouses, silently asking if they minded. Both nodded their consent.

Turning to Professor McGonagall, Bill said, "Yeah, we'll do it. Should be fun."

"Excellent" McGonagall started, "you will be receiving an owl a week or so before we require your services. Thank you. I'll leave you to your dinner now. I am sorry for interrupting your dinner." She turned and left without waiting for a response.

The rest of dinner passed discussing what would be said while teaching. They moved into the sitting room and continued talking until Teddy started whining.

"Sounds like someone's ready for bed." Ginny said.

"Caski, did you put the crib in my room?" Harry asked the house elf who was passing out drinks.

"Yes Master Harry, although Caski is thinking that H-2 would be better than in your room, sir." Caski replied.

"No. H-2 is off-limits. He'll stay in my room" Harry ordered, slightly harsher than he meant to. He turned and took Teddy upstairs.

"What's in H-2?" Ron asked when Harry returned.

"Nothing. Its not important and I don't want to talk about it." Harry said sitting on the couch and pulling Ginny closer to him.

"So what's in H-2?" Ginny asked later as Harry came out of the bathroom, getting ready for bed.

"Nothing" he sighed, sitting on the bed.

"Don't lie to me, Harry," she argued.

"I'm not lying. Its nothing." When she started to argue, he said, "Just drop it Gin, please."

"For now, but when you get back from training, your telling me what's in that room." She consented, also sitting on the bed.

Harry hesitated for a moment before saying: "deal" then turned out the light.

**I'm sorry! I was on vacation and didn't have Internet access and I was really busy (which is why this chapter is short and crappy) Please don't be mad!! I would really appreciate it if you would review!!**


	16. GoodByes and Hello's

The days flew by and before they knew it, it was August 31st.

"Honestly, I don't see why you left your packing until the last minute" Hermione scolded Ginny (she had been packed for school days ago). They were in Harry and Ginny's room, packing the latter's trunk.

"I had better things to do" she replied, looking under the bed for something.

"What's more important than school?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Spending time with my boyfriend who I will not be seeing until he's twenty." Ginny said, now looking under the dresser.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked as Ginny started tearing her closet apart.

"Quidditch jersey" she mumbled.

"You realize you're of age don't you? You can use magic." Hermione added when Ginny still looked confused.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that? _Accio jersey_" seconds later an old jersey came flying into the room from the bathroom. She sighed a breath of relief. She didn't know what she would do if she had to go until Christmas without Harry's old jersey. Ginny put it in her trunk along with the sweater Harry had also given her. The locket was around her neck; she had yet to take it off. _I can't believe I'm not going to see him for more than a year! _She thought as she finished packing, this time using magic. Harry was currently feeding Teddy lunch. _He's going to be such a great dad one day_ she thought locking her trunk.

"So have you found out what's in H-2 yet?" Ron asked walking in.

"No the door's locked and wont open with _Alohomora. _Whatever's in there, he doesn't want us finding out." Ginny said.

"Which makes you all the more curious to see what's there, I'm sure" Hermione laughed. Ginny nodded, unable to deny it; she wanted to know what was in there and the more Harry kept her out of there, the more she wanted to know. _I bet Hermione knows a spell or two that could open the door…_ but before she could ask, Harry walked in caring Teddy.

"Wow Harry, did you get any food in his mouth?" Ron asked. It was true; Teddy's face was covered in food, as was the front of Harry's shirt.

"I think so. That" Harry indicated Teddy's face, "mainly happened when he put his hand in the bowl then covered his face with his hand."

"And how did your shirt end up covered in food?" Ginny asked smiling.

"He hit the bowl while it was in my hand and it spilled" he replied. Harry then proceeded to go to the bathroom and cleaned off Teddy, before going down to his room. He handed his godson to Hermione and pulled of his shirt. He went over to his dresser and pulled out a clean shirt.

Putting it on he said: "All packed then?"

"Yeah. It seems so weird. I mean, I'm going back to Hogwarts and its going to be nothing like it was last year, but I'm still not going to know where you are or what your doing and it's just going to be me, Hermione, and Luna." Ginny frowned. Harry walked over to her and gave her a hug. She buried her head in his chest.

"You really think you're not going to see me for a year? Do you honestly think I can make it the whole time without getting hurt?" he asked.

"No, but I don't want to be away from you, like last year." She said, holding on to him tighter.

"Don't worry. I have an idea or two." He rubbed her back, suddenly aware that both Ron and Hermione were standing behind them.

"OW!" Hermione yelped. Harry and Ginny broke apart to see Hermione holding Teddy, who had a large fistful of Hermione's hair.

"I'm sorry Hermione. He loves doing that." Harry apologized as Ginny giggled at the expression on Hermione's face. Harry walked forward and gently freed Hermione's hair then took Teddy from her.

"Come on, let's go do something." Ron said.

"I have to put Teddy down for a kip. I'll be down in a minute," Harry said. Ron and Hermione nodded and left.

"When does he leave?" Ginny asked as Harry put Teddy in his crib.

"Tomorrow after you…after lunch." He said. He had been having a hard time coming to grips with that they wouldn't be seeing each other until he turned twenty.

"I'm going to miss you, you know." Ginny said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm going to miss you, too, a lot." He leaned in and kissed her. It was reminiscent of the kiss they shared on Harry's seventeenth birthday. The passion of the kiss quickly rose. Ginny moved her hands to the hem of his tee shirt, and then she went under his shirt and started exploring his chest and back with her hands. Harry shivered at her touch, tightening his grip in her hair and on her back; he pulled her closer to him. This carried on for several more moments before they broke apart.

"Wow, has anyone ever told you that you're a good kisser?" Ginny asked, smiling.

"I think you've mentioned it once…" he grinned, "We should probably go downstairs before Ron sends up a search party."

Harry woke early the next morning and got up, careful not to wake Ginny. He grabbed a change of clothes and went up to the bathroom. He came down after his shower quietly and slipped out. He went to the kitchen and found Caski preparing breakfast.

"Will you make me a tray for two and put some food on it for Teddy?" he asked her.

"Yes of course Master Harry! Caski would be delighted to." The elf nodded vigorously for a few moments before hurrying around the kitchen preparing the tray. Five minutes later, Caski handed Harry a large (and heavy he thought taking it from her) tray, laden with eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, juice, milk, coffee and yogurt. This did not include the sliced bananas, strawberries, and grapes for Teddy. He walked up the stairs slowly, careful not to spill anything. He walked into the room and placed the tray on the nightstand. Seeing that Teddy was awake, Harry walked over to him and picked him up. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gave Ginny a kiss.

"Good morning Gin." He whispered softly.

"Morning." She mumbled sitting up and wiping sleep from her eyes.

"I brought you breakfast" he offered.

"Yum! Lets have it then." She looked at the tray happily and he levitated it onto her lap. They ate quietly, both enjoying the small amount of time they had left together.

"So are you packed?" Ginny asked as Harry as he fed Teddy.

"For the most part. I have pictures, some clothes, and a few books. All I have to do is pack it." He laughed as she shook her head.

"I have to get dressed" she sighed. Ginny moved the tray and got up.

"I have to get Teddy ready to go back to Andromeda." Harry got up and walked over to the bag with Teddy's clothes. After he was dressed, Harry put his godson in his crib while he packed up all of Teddy's things. Once he was finished, he took Teddy and his stuff and went downstairs. Ginny soon followed, bringing her trunk with her.

At about 10: 15 the ministry cars drove up and they all climbed in. Harry was sitting next to Ginny and had his arm around her shoulders and Teddy on his lap. She was leaning against his chest, her head on his shoulder. Ron and Hermione were in a similar position, talking quietly. As they arrived at King's Cross-, Harry felt his stomach lurch. The last time he was here, he was dead, talking to Dumbledore then choosing whether or not go 'go on'. Harry handed Teddy to Mrs. Weasley as he and Ron climbed out of the car and went and got trolleys for Ginny and Hermione's trunks. Once through the barrier, Harry turned to Ginny.

"Well, this is it." He said.

"Yeah. The last time we're going to see each other for nearly two years." Ginny said weakly. The other Weasleys where giving them space, milling around talking to Ron and Hermione.

"I really am going to miss you." She sniffed, her eyes glazed over. He nodded, a lump in this throat. He reached out and pulled her in for a hug. They stayed like that for a few moments before Ginny pulled back and kissed him. It wasn't as long or as passionate as either of them wanted, but it was enough.

"I love you, Harry." Ginny said when they broke apart.

"I love you too Ginny. More everyday." He said taking her hand and leading her over to her parents. Her brothers each gave her a hug; one by one, then did the same thing to Hermione. Harry gave Hermione a hug and whispered "take care of her for me." Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Hermione, every time Ron starts driving you mad, write it down and I'll punch him for each one." He said smiling. Just then, the train gave a warning whistle. Harry gave Ginny a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, before saying: "try not to get into too much trouble and good luck with Quidditch tryouts." She laughed and nodded before Hermione grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the train.

"There they go" Ron said as the train pulled away. Harry nodded and sighed. He had been dreading this since Ginny's birthday. He wouldn't be seeing her until he went to Hogwarts and (in his opinion) it couldn't come fast enough. The Weasleys (minus Mrs. Weasley who was taking Teddy to Andromeda's) and Harry apperated to Potter Manor seconds after the train disappeared from sight. The rest of the day passed slowly. Bill and Fleur left to go back to Shell Cottage and Charlie for Romania, as the eggs would be hatching soon. George, Ron, and Harry spent the rest of the day playing Exploding Snap and chess.

Harry woke up the next morning at a half past eight. After he showered, he walked to his closet and pulled out his rucksack. He put everything that he was taking to Auror training in it and put it in his study where he took out the portkey (a broken quill) and instructions. He spent the next hour making sure he had everything he needed in is rucksack, then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.

_Dear Ginny, _

_If you're reading this, it means that your family took me up on my offer to spend Christmas here and that you, for whatever reason, ended up in my room. So far you've been gone for less than twenty-four hours and I already miss you like crazy. I leave for training in an hour and a half and currently just want to go to get it over with so I can see you again. I better go get breakfast before I leave, so I'll end this now. I love you and miss you more that you will ever know._

_Love, Harry_

_P.S. The key is the key to H-2. You can go in it of you want or you can wait until I'm there. You choose; I'm fine with either._

He took this letter, along with the key, and put it on his nightstand, hoping Ginny would find it. Harry then went downstairs and started eating breakfast.

"So when do you leave Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, putting more food on his plate.

"Ten o'clock." He replied, glancing at his watch. He hung around until 9:45. He went upstairs and got his stuff, then proceeded to go down to the entryway, where the remaining Weasleys were waiting. He shook Mr. Weasley Ron, Percy, and George's hand, and then received a bone-crushing hug from Mrs. Weasley.

"Caski, do what they tell you, all right?" he said looking down at his house elf. She nodded, her eyes filled with tears. She ran at him and hugged him tightly around the knees. He patted her on the back awkwardly, before she pulled away.

"See you when I get hurt." Harry laughed, walking out the front doors. He made his way to the tree line, when the quill in his hand glowed blue and he felt the familiar tug behind his navel.

He landed in a large sitting area, reminiscent of the Gryffendor common room. On the far side of the largest door was a large fireplace with overstuffed armchairs and couches around it. A large wireless stood in one corner of the room, underneath a window. There was a large bookshelf and a few desks. Seven doors lead off of this room. Before he could look through any of the doors, Jim Savage and his briefcase came through large door.

"Ahh, good you're here. The rest of your team will be here shortly, but I just wanted to run a few things by you." Jim said as he and Harry shook hands.

"Alright, so this means I'm the head of the team?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, congratulations. That door over there leads to your room, and the rest of your team can choose who gets which room, but as team leader, you get a slightly bigger and nicer one." He explained, "everyone has clothes in their room that will fit for now, but Gawain wants the new generation of Auror to be more muscular and trained in hand to hand combat. So those clothes will be too small soon enough."

"Who?" Harry asked, confused.

"Gawain Robards, he's the new head of the Auror Department. Anyway, here's your team's schedule. Stick to it, Harry. You will not be pleased with the outcome if you are late to class. Here's a book of rules and regulations and a map. A lot of the people here run, to keep up stamina. I suggest that you and your team follow their example and run if you have free time." He said quickly, glancing at his watch every few seconds. "Your team should be here in a minute or two so we should get ready to greet them. One last thing is that I understand that you have a girlfriend, correct?" Harry nodded, so he continued, "in order for your team to get used to investigating if they want to know something, we would appreciate it if you kept her identity to yourself, unless they figure it out."

"Alright, I can do that." Harry said, slightly confused, but was unable to ask any questions due to the blue spots that had just appeared around the room. Five men soon replaced the blue spots, each holding a portkey.

"Hello, welcome to your new home!" Jim said, smiling at the new arrivals. "This is Harry Potter. He is your team leader and he is more than qualified for it. While you are here or on a mission or at home, your team is your family, your partners are your brothers, and your team mentor is your father. You all have clothes in your rooms and they will be replaced, as you need them. I should mention that Gawain wants all new Auror to be more muscular and better fighters than your predecessors. Also, you are free to wear whatever you want as long as you are in this area. If one of the female trainees comes in, she will announce herself before hand, as you will be doing if you decide to visit them." He paused for a moment, letting all of this information sink in before adding, "one of the main reasons we have this facility is that it helps a team bond before missions. When you're out there, risking your life, you need to know that your partner has your back. The most important thing that you will be doing here is bonding." With that, he turned and left.

"Well that was a long welcome speech." One of the Auror said in a strong American accent. He looked to be about Harry's age, with dark hair, large brown eyes. The others nodded, and then looked at Harry.

"Well, like Jim said, I'm Harry Potter." He said nervously.

"I'm Joey. Joey Collins. I'm from America. Tennessee to be exact." Said the one with the big brown eyes, reaching forward to shake Harry's hand.

"I'm Mitch Gissmills." Mitch had a deep voice and sharp blue eyes. He ran a hand threw his sandy blonde hair as he spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry. My wife's going to have a field day when she finds out you're my boss." He chuckled.

"I'm Rolf Scamander." he had green eyes and short brown hair and what Harry heard referred to once as a short boxed beard. Now there where only two people left. One was a shorter man with reddish-blonde hair and hazel eyes and big ears and the other a tall, thin man with light brown hair and gray eyes.

"I am Timothy James Blacken, sir." The thin man said, looking at Harry looking scared, " but you can call me T.J. I'm also from America, but not from Tennessee. Instead I was born in Montana." Harry nodded in approval, not sure what else to do.

"Me name's Scott Polker, but you can call me Scotty if 'ya want." Said Big Ears.

"Hmm…Scotty the Scotsman. That's appropriate." Joey smiled.

"Yeah, me dad thought it was pretty funny too." Scotty laughed. The group moved and sat down on the couches and armchairs. They continued talking about where each of them came from until a bell, signaling lunch, rang. They got up and made their way through the facility until they entered the cafeteria. It was nothing like the Great Hall, with its four long house tables; instead it had circular tables that seated seven or eight. They got in line and got their food. Sitting down at a table, the conversation continued and each took turns telling why they wanted to be Auror and other things about their lives.

Joey's dad was an Auror and moved him, his mother, brother, and sister to Brittan for a job opportunity. His mother was a muggle and loved music so she taught him and his siblings how to play the guitar. T.J was muggle born who wanted to become an Auror after Death Eaters killed his mother while on holiday and almost killed his girlfriend, Claire, while they were on holiday in France He came to England's department because he heard it was one of the best.

Scott needed the money and liked the idea of hunting Death Eaters. His mother was a muggle and didn't know that his father was a wizard until Scott to the letter to attend Hogwarts. His parents divorced soon after he started school. Mitch and his wife eloped because of the war and his wife, Mindy, was muggle born. He wanted to ensure that no one would ever have to elope due to blood status. Rolf's father died when he was six, due to dragon pox, and his mother was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts. He wanted revenge for his mother and his girlfriend, who was killed when a bridge collapsed a few years previously.

"Alright boss. Your turn." Joey said to Harry.

"I think everyone already knows my story." He said.

"We want to hear it from your point of view." Mitch said.

"Well, my parents were killed when I was a year old and ever since I started at Hogwarts, I've been fighting whatever evil decides to come terrorize me and my friends." He explained, uncomfortable.

"Fascinating. So do you have a girlfriend?" Joey asked.

"Uhh...yeah." Harry answered, even more uncomfortable.

"What's her name?" T.J asked.

"He's not allowed to answer that." Came Jim's voice from behind Harry. "You are going to be trained in investigation. You figure it out. While I'm here, Harry, here is your team list; it includes whose partners with whom. I'll see you tomorrow after breakfast in classroom 13." He turned and left.

"Odd one, he is. Eh?" Scotty said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Right. So partners are: Me and Joey, Rolf and Scott, which leaves T.J and Mitch." Harry said looking at the sheet Jim had just given him. "Wait a moment. We have a healer assigned to our team."

"What's his name?" Rolf asked.

"Her name. Her name is Julia Holeburg." He replied, holding the parchment out so everyone could see it.

_Partners:_

_Harry Potter, leader—Joey Collins_

_Rolf Scamander—Scott Polker_

_Timothy James (T.J) Blacken—Mitch Gissmills_

_Julia Holeburg—healer, has no partner._

They stared at each other for a few moments before going back to their common room and unpacked.

**Whew! There's another chapter completed. I don't exactly like the beginning but I can't figure out how to make it any better. PLEASE review! You're in for some fun with Harry's Auror team. Anyone want to guess what Joey's dad's new job is? I think you're going to like the team. And no worries, I'm going to be switching back and forth between Harry and Ginny. **


	17. The Start of School

**This is Ginny's POV and it's definitely different.**

_**Enjoy!!**_

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! I hope you will all join me in welcoming the new additions to the teaching staff." Professor McGonagall began. It was the start of term feast, time for the headmistress to make a start of term speech. "The new Muggle Studies teacher, Helen Oleanburg. Who has traveled all the way from Germany to teach." Oleanburg was a large woman with thick dark hair and a stern expression. "Our new transfiguration teacher is Sara Atlas. She is the editor of _Transfiguration Today_and has kindly offered her services." Professor Atlas had bright curly hair and a kind smile. "Finally, our last staffing change is the Defense Against the Dark Arts. Joseph Collins, an Auror from America has agreed to take up the post and has kindly agreed to step in as the head of Gryffendor house, but as he is still an Auror, he will be going out on jobs for the Ministry. When this is the case, the school governors and I have chosen people who had a great impact during the war to teach you." Collins was tall man with dark brown hair and eyes. He had a thick build, made up of mainly, Ginny guessed, muscle and a handful of scars across his face. McGonagall dismissed the school and with the usual deafening scraping of the benches, the four houses made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Three new teachers in one year. That's going to be fun! I cant wait to tell Ron" Hermione said as they walked through the portrait hole. Ginny nodded, dully. She missed Harry and made no attempt to hide it. She knew it was stupid because they had just seen each other a few hours ago, but that was the last time until he came to teach, and who knew when that would be?

Hermione continued talking about classes and teachers until they were in the dormitory. Ginny turned to one of her roommates, Myra Sunnery.

"Great to be back isn't it? I mean it's weird after everything that happened last year, but still…" Myra said, looking around the room, lost in memory.

"Yeah it is." Was Ginny's reply. The seventh year dormitory was unusually full this year due to the fact that any seventh year last year was invited back because there was very little learning that happened last year. So far the only one's whom Ginny recognized from Harry and Ron's year was Dean, Seamus, Ernie Macmillan, Neville, Hannah Abbott, the Patil twins and Lavender Brown. Ginny's year had four Gryffendor girls, including Ginny, now with the additions of Hermione, Lavender, and Parvarti; the dormitory was fit to burst. After catching up with her friends, Ginny drifted into and uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Ginny awoke to a thumping sound. Sitting up and grabbing her wand (just in case), she looked around only to see Hermione digging through her trunk.

"Hermione what are you doing?" Ginny asked, annoyed.

"I cant find my Arithmancy book!" she cried, throwing book after book out of her trunk. By this time the whole room was awake and watching Hermione, bemused or irritated.

"_Accio Hermione's Arithmancy textbook"_ Ginny said waving her wand. Out of the pile of books on the floor, came a thick leather-bound book. It zoomed into Ginny's hands, Ginny then handed Hermione her book.

"Thank you! I thought I'd left it at Potter Manor. I don't know what I'd have done then!" Hermione said happily putting the book in her bag.

"Hold on. What's Potter Manor?" Lizzy Nickels asked. She was slightly taller than Ginny with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. She and Myra were Ginny's best friends in her year and, due to after effects of the war, Ginny hadn't had time to write to either of them over the summer.

"It's Harry's house. We stayed there over the summer." Ginny replied.

"You stayed in the Harry Potter's house?" Hanna Queston screeched, "I don't believe it!"

"Why not? How hard is it to believe? I mean, Harry's best friends are Hermione and Ginny's brother Ron." Lavender said, clearly appalled by what Hanna had said.

"Not to mention that Harry and Ginny are back together," Hermione added.

"WHAT?!" Myra screamed.

"You kept that quiet." Lizzy said.

"You got back together with the most famous wizard ever and you don't even write us about it?" exclaimed Myra.

"Wasn't _that _big of a deal," Ginny muttered.

"Not that big of a deal? Ginny, you have him wrapped around your finger!" said an exasperated Hermione.

"Seriously?" Parvarti asked incredulously. Hermione nodded and Ginny blushed.

"Too bad he's at Auror training. I won't be able to see him for a year and a half" Ginny sighed.

"You forgot to subtract the amount of time he's going to be spending in St. Mungo's, not to mention when he comes here to teach in Collins's place." Hermione said.

"Yeah if I factor all that in he's just going to be gone for a year." Ginny laughed.

"Won't you see him over Christmas?" Hanna asked.

"No" Ginny shook her head, "he's not allowed to communicate with anyone outside of training"

"That sucks." Parvarti said glancing at her watch, "oh my! We need to be getting ready; Collins will be handing out timetables soon."

A quarter of an hour later, the group entered the Great Hall in time to quickly eat some breakfast before Professor Collins arrived at their end of the table. When he got to Ginny, he smiled.

"Hello Miss Weasley, what classes are you taking this year?" he said, smiling.

"Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration, sir." She recited.

"All the classes required to be a healer if I'm not mistaken." He replied tapping the timetable with his wand.

"Yes sir." She responded, taking the timetable.

"Miss Granger. I believe you know the drill. Classes?" he turned to Hermione.

"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and Muggle Studies, Professor." She replied at top-speed.

"That's quite the class load, but from what I've heard, you're more than capable of handling the pressure." He smiled again and moved on.

"What do you have today?" Hermione asked hurriedly, snatching the timetable from Ginny.

"Charms, break, Potions, lunch, DADA, free period." Ginny said taking her schedule back.

"Good. I'll see you in Potions." Hermione said before she left for Arithmancy. Not long after, Myra, Lizzy and Ginny left for Charms while Lavender and Parvarti went to Divination.

_****~~~~Later In Defense Against the Dark Arts~~~~****_

"Good afternoon seventh years!" Professor Collins said, closing the door in the back of the classroom.

"Good afternoon Professor Collins" a few voices responded.

"We'll work on it" he chuckled, walking to the front of the room, "from what I can tell, your education has been scattered and not thorough. All we will be doing the next few weeks is seeing where you are and getting everyone on the same page. But before I start drilling you, I feel that y'all have the right to know a bit about me." The room was silent, all you could hear was breathing and Hermione's quill scratching as she took notes.

"Well? Do you want to exercise the right to know a bit about me?" Collins asked, his eyebrows raised. A few people nodded so he continued, "alright then. My name is Joseph Robert Collins. I'm married" he wriggled his left hand ring finger, on which was a gold band, "her name is Reese. We'll be married for 23 years in June. We have three kids: Jay, he's 22 and the oldest. He just got a job working for Gringotts. Cali, my girl and the middle kid, who's 21 and works for a newspaper in America. Then there's B.J. He's 19 and the baby of the family. He's following in my footsteps and he's an Auror too." The Professor pulled a family photo from his pocket and gave it to Hannah Abbott, who was sitting on the front row, to pass around.

"The whole family moved here when I got this job. Jay was planning on moving here anyway, Cali can write her article from here but travels back to America to check in with her boss and to see her boyfriend." He said this last part coldly and in a disapproving manor. "I've been an Auror for twenty-five years come December. It's not always easy and it's not always fun, but the second I walk through the door and see my family, I know it's worth all the pain and suffering just so that they can sleep in peace at night. That all you need to know for now. Now lets see how much you know." He ended. They spent the rest of the class dueling each other and performing complex spells. Nearly everything he threw at them, they had learned in the DA and anyone in the DA had no problem. They walked out of class exhausted but pleased with the competence of their new teacher.

"Don't you just love his accent?" Lavender asked the table at large at dinner. A handful of girls nodded weakly, while Hanna nodded eagerly. She had been following Lavender and Parvarti around all day and had even changed a few classes so they had a few classes together.

"It might take a while to get used to, but all there's an entire country filled with people who have his accent." Hermione said.

"I don't see the big deal. So he's from America, so he's an Auror. What makes him different than any of us?" Dean asked, glancing at the teacher in question who was deep in conversation with Professor Sprout.

"He's different." Ginny shrugged, then looking at the others " and you should remember that he's old enough to be your dad and he's married. With three kids, all of them older than us." The others nodded in agreement and, in some cases, defeat.

Lavender, who wasn't giving in, said: "yeah, but his son's don't look to bad either"

"So do girls really like the Auror, scarred, tough guys?" Neville asked on the way back up to the Common Room.

"Yeah, especially Ginny." Myra said, nudging Ginny in the ribs.

"You're not going to let me forget that I didn't tell you, are you?" Ginny laughed.

"Nope. You are in for a long year, my friend." Lizzy replied, grinning.

" 'M I missing something?" Seamus asked.

"Harry's at Auror training." Hermione explained.

"So? What's that have to with—" Seamus stopped short, dawning appearing on his face. "Ahh…ok. I get it"

"So let's see does he have scars?" Myra asked

"Check" Lizzy said.

"Is he a tough guy?" she asked

"Check" Lizzy said again.

"Auror?" Myra grinned.

"Training to become one, so check" Lizzy answered, "Anything we've forgotten?"

"Well, he's rich, famous, and hot" Hanna replied.

"True. So he is officially the perfect guy." Lizzy said.

"I don't know. He has his flaws and some of them are fairly big ones," Hermione countered; she didn't like that they were idolizing Harry.

Myra and Lizzy nodded in agreement as Hanna said the password to the fat lady.

"Dean, you and I should become Aurors." Seamus said, looking at Dean as Lavender went through the portrait hole.

"Right, because we really need help with girls" Dean said sarcastically. Seamus shrugged and climbed through the portrait hole. They sat down in front of the fire, pulled out of their books, and started doing homework. The rest of the week passed much like that; the only difference being the amount of homework being assigned and that the news that Ginny Weasley was dating _the _Harry Potter spread through the school in record time.

**I'm so sorry for the short chapter but my brother and his girlfriend came to visit then school started and then my grandparents decided to come for a visit. I wont be able to update as often but I will as soon as I can. Promise!! Now, if you would be so kind as to review… I currently have a grand total of 106 reviews and would LOVE it if I got (at least) 110.**

**On another, slightly related note, in response to a review that was anonymous so I couldn't reply to it: I will not do the whole Auror training and school year but I will be doing, like, half of it. You also wanted to know if I had any hints to what it's going to be like. Here's one: AWESOME!! I cant give any more hints than that here because some people might not want them but if you do, login and review or PM me with a specific/ semi specific question and I'll do my best to answer it.**


	18. Julia Holeburg

**Harry's POV**

Harry walked into his room after lunch. It was an off white color with a small queen sized bed up against the far wall. There was a dresser to the left of the bed and a bedside table on either side of the bed. To the right of the dresser was a small hallway that had two doors leading off of it. On the other side of the bed was a large armchair in front of a fireplace. Flanking the fireplace were bookshelves, almost full of books. Opening the smaller of the two doors leading off the bedroom, he discovered a small walk-in closet with a handful of cloths already in it. The other one was his bathroom. There was a decent sized shower, big sink, and counter space. The toilet was closed off from the rest of the bathroom, giving its user privacy. Why this was necessary in a room for one person, Harry didn't know. He walked back into the room and set his bag on the bed. He pulled out the clothes he had brought and put them in the dresser. Next he pulled out the photo album and box that Gullam had given him and, clearing a spot on the bookshelf, put them there. He sat in the navy armchair, taking in his new room before taking the album down and looking threw it.

Over the summer, the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had added pictures to it of the family at the Burrow and Potter Manor. He sat in the armchair, looking at a picture of him, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione smiling in the Burrow's garden. Harry had his arms wrapped around Ginny, pulling her into his chest, while Ron had his arm around Hermione's shoulders and she had an arm around his waist. He sat there looking at the picture until he heard someone call from the common room.

"Hello?" a voice sang. Harry jumped up and quickly crossed the room to see who was calling. He reached his door at the same time the rest of the team reached theirs. Standing in the middle of the common room, holding a large suitcase and looking very confused was a young woman. She had curly dirty blonde hair and looked to be slightly older that Harry was.

"Ho-ho! And who do we have here?" Scotty asked, crossing his arms. She looked at him for a moment, as if deciding if it was worth responding.

Turning to Harry she asked: "you're the team leader?"

"Yeah. That's me." He nodded. She had blue-green eyes and a don't-mess-with-me look about her.

"Good. I'm Julia Holeburg, you're team healer." She smiled.

"Alright then. I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He introduced himself, walking forward and stretching out his arm to shake her hand.

"Are you all going to introduce yourselves or am I going to have to ask Mr. Potter?" she asked looking around at the five men, who were all still standing in the doorways of their bedrooms.

"I'll start!" Joey exclaimed, rushing forward "I'm Joey Collins. It's a pleasure meeting you, Jules."

"Hello Joey." She smiled, shaking his hand. "I want to warn you that I'm horrible with names."

"No worries. We have plenty of time to learn each others names." Mitch said, "I'm Mitch by the way." Julia nodded as they shook hands.

"My turn!" Scotty yelled, "Me name's Scott, but my friends call me Scotty. And just incase you're wonderin', we are friends." He walked forward and, bypassing her outstretched hand, gave her a hug. She stood shocked for a moment, then relaxed and hugged him back.

"Let her go Scotty!" Rolf ordered, clearly embarrassed by his partner's actions, "Name's Rolf. And if you don't mind, I'll shake your hand."

"Oh no, not at all!" Julia said, sticking her hand out.

"Teege, you're up!" Joey said, walking over to T.J. and giving him an encouraging push.

"I-I'm T.J" he stuttered, shuffling forward.

"Hello T.J. there's no need to be shy; I won't bite. I swear." She smiled kindly at him as they shook hands.

"Great! Now that we're all acquainted, why don't you tell us about yourself, Julia?" Joey said as he sat on one of the couches, looking at her expectantly.

"Well, why don't you start? I'm not really sure what you want to know, so if you gave me an example, I could do a whole lot better." She said as she sat down in an armchair. The others followed suit, sitting in armchairs, on the couches, or, in Scotty's case, the floor in front of Julia.

"Well why did you want to become a healer?" T.J. asked tentatively.

"I have four brothers." She said simply. Only Harry and Joey looked as if they understood what she meant, so she continued "I have four brothers: Noah, Toby, Fin and then Sam. My mum was a healer and when she and Dad decided to home-school us, they knew that one of us would need to be trained as a healer, incase Mum wasn't there or she was healing one of the others. I'm the only girl and got in the least fights so I was the logical choice. I've been training to be a healer since I was six."

"But why a team healer?" Mitch asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess because it was the only time my brothers appreciated me and once my brothers were gone, I missed their fights and how they always came running to me when they got hurt because Mum always went mental and it's not like they could stop fighting or stop their never-ending competition to see who's the most macho and manly." She said, talking faster and faster.

"Four brothers? That's got to suck." Scott said shaking his head sadly.

"Its not so bad…why?" Julia asked, clearly confused.

"Well, ya see, one of the rules for dating is not to date a girl who has more brothers than you have eyes. That way you can keep an eye on them at all times." He explained.

"That's completely idiotic." Julia said.

"Makes sense though. If you think about it," Joey pointed out.

"Me dad taught me every rule for dating there is. An' believe me when I say that there are more where that came from." Scotty added.

"Really? What are some of them?" T.J. asked having gotten over his shyness.

"Well, lets see…" Scotty began scratching his chin thoughtfully, " Dad's favorite is to never date a girl who eats and or weighs more than you do. Then there's first date is to be spent getting to know each other; the second is to be for more fun things. When you meet your girlfriend's parents for the first time be sure to dress nicely, shower, shave, and be sure to get a haircut. And you should always call them Mr. and Mrs. or sir and Ma'am until instructed to do otherwise."

"Well that's more of a common courtesy thing than a dating rule." Rolf interjected.

"Oh and there's me Mum's favorite." Scotty continued as if there had been no interruption, "if your girlfriend wants it, you get if for her. And the one me dad says is the most important: you never ever, under any circumstances, date your best mate's sister. What's worse is falling for her or her falling for you."

"There's nothing wrong with dating your best mate's sister." Mitch said. Harry thought he sensed an edge of defensiveness in his voice.

"And what makes you say that, Mitchy boy?" Joey asked.

"I married my best friend's younger sister and he couldn't be more thrilled to have me in the family." He replied coldly.

"Did your best mate give you his say-so?" Rolf asked.

"Well we eloped, so there wasn't much time for that, but he was really happy when we started dating and when we told him that we had gotten married, he couldn't stop grinning." Mitch explained.

"Well, there are exceptions too each rule I suppose…" Scott muttered.

"My brothers always said that rules are meant to be broken." Julia added. Unfortunately for her, choosing to speak was the wrong move. It alerted the others that she was still there and had yet to reveal much about herself.

"You have yet to give us very much information about you." Joey started before Julia interrupted him.

"And the six of you have yet to tell me anything about you. Why would I share personal information to a group who has only told me their names?" she argued.

"She has a point." Rolf said, "just stating facts," he added when Joey glared at him.

"Fine. We wont press you for much now, but riddle me this:" Joey caved.

"What?" Mitch asked, confused.

"It's the Riddler's catchphrase. You know, _Batman._" T.J. explained.

"Who the hell is Batman?" Rolf asked.

"He's a muggle superhero. He comes in and saves the day." Harry said, slightly surprised that he knew the answer.

"Wow, kudos for the boss-man!" Joey exclaimed. Harry smiled, he liked his team, but he wasn't sure why they were calling him 'boss'; it make him slightly uncomfortable but he wasn't sure if he should say anything.

"Anyway, as I was saying. Julia, will you just answer one question? I promise that after you answer it the rest of us will." Joey bargained.

"Fine. One question" she sighed.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked. Harry thought he detected a hint of hopefulness in his voice, but not enough to know for sure.

"Yes I do." She replied.

"What's 'is name?" Scotty asked, leaning forward in his seat opposite of her.

"Sorry. Only one question." She said smiling, "now it's your turn."

"No girlfriend for me." Joey said, "I'm a free agent"

"I'm married." Mitch commented.

"I got a girl. Name's Lizzy-Beth." Scotty interjected, cutting T.J. off.

"Mine's name is Claire." T.J said so quietly that almost no one heard him.

"I had one, but she was killed when that bridge collapsed a few years back." Rolf sighed, lost in memory.

"Looks like you're up, Mr. Potter" Julia said looking at Harry who gulped.

"Call me Harry. My grandfather was Mr. Potter. My dad was James and I'm Harry." He said, "and yeah. I have a girlfriend, but I'm not allowed to tell you her name."

"Yeah, apparently, they want us to figure it out on our own." Scott scoffed.

"Makes sense" she shrugged. Just then, the bell signaling dinner rang. The team stood and made their way out of the common room, down the hall and down the stairs, to the dining hall.

He woke up the next morning feeling oddly well rested. He sat up and put his glasses on as Joey barged in, shirt off and toothbrush in hand.

"Morning Partner. Breakfast is in twenty, class is in forty." He said before turning and leaving. Harry got up and went into his bathroom. He walked into the common room fifteen minutes later showered and ready to eat.

"Boss, I have an idea." Joey announced while they were waiting for Rolf.

"You don't have to call me 'boss' but go ahead." He replied.

"I think that, in order to get one another better, each day we should have a question that everyone has to answer in front of everyone. All the other questions asked are optional but Jim said that this our new family and one of the rules when I was growing up was no secrets." Joey explained looking around at the others for their approval.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea, but we'll have to start with generic questions, you know so we don't start with the gut wrenching ones." Mitch said, nodding in agreement while Harry deliberated.

"Yeah sure, but remember that there are some questions that I cant answer." Harry replied.

"Maybe we can take turns picking the question." Julia suggested. Joey nodded eagerly. "Yeah that's a great idea. That way we don't have one person monopolizing the questions to fit only what they want to know."

"And so the designated person doesn't run out of ideas." T.J. added.

"Right so who's going to be today's person?" Joey asked.

"What's going on?" Rolf asked as he walked in.

"Each day a different person will ask the team a question that they have to answer." Scott explained.

"Well there are seven of us, so each day of the week can be someone's assigned day." Rolf scratched his chin as he spoke, looking thoughtful.

"Good point" Julia said as they stood and began to make their way to the dining hall, "so who wants Monday?"

"I'll do it!" Joey practically shouted.

"Tuesday?" she asked again. T.J raised his hand meekly after a moment, "Wednesday?"

"Me." Scotty offered as they walked down the steps.

"I'll do Thursday. So Friday?" she asked

"Guess it's me then" Harry said when know one offered.

"That leaves Mitch and Rolf." Joey had been counting on his fingers.

"I'll take Saturday." Mitch offered.

"Which leaves me with Sunday" Rolf deduced as the others nodded.

"Today is Wednesday so…that means its-- " Joey started as they entered the dining hall.

"Me" Scotty interrupted him, looking around thinking hard, "I'll ask my question when we sit down, all right?" everyone nodded, their focus now on food.

"So have you picked your question?" T.J. asked as they sat at their usual table.

"Yeah. Last night you told us whether or not you had a girlfriend, or in Jules case, a boyfriend. So now I want to know how long you've been together." He said.

"Wow. And here I was thinking that it would be something like 'what's your favorite color?' but alas no…" Joey trailed off, his attention diverted to the group of girls who had just walked in, "who are _they_?" he asked in astonishment.

"Healers. Some of them are training to be Aurors too, but they're mainly healers." Julia explained.

"Right good to know. Now back to the question." Joey said suddenly alert, "I don't have a girlfriend currently, as I said last night so, lets go around the table shall we?" he turned to Scotty who was sitting on his left.

"I've been with Lizzy-Beth for…about two years now." He said.

"Odd name isn't it? Lizzy-Beth." Rolf said, who was sitting on the other side of Scott.

"It's what I call her. Her real name is Elizabeth but I think it's too old, plus if I call her Lizzy-Beth, I can call her 'Elizabeth' when I'm mad at her." He grinned.

"I've been with Luke for a year and a half come November." Julia said, smiling (Rolf was skipped because he didn't have a girlfriend).

"Mindy and I have been married for a year in February, but we dated for three years before that." Mitch said before turning to T.J. who was next to Harry.

"Um…Claire and I have been dating since we were fifteen. That was the summer she moved in to the farm next to ours." T.J. explained, blushing a color that would make a Weasley proud.

"You're up, Boss." Mitch said, leaning forward slightly.

"Well…it's…complicated." He began, "we started dating at the end of my sixth year, but I had to end it after a few weeks because I was going to go after Voldemort and didn't want him using her to get to me. Then when he died, we got back together."

"Wow that is complicated. So where is she now?" Julia asked.

"Hogwarts. It's her last year." He said.

"Well, at least you can write to her." She said in a motherly voice.

"No actually I'm not allowed. Are you?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yeah, well, at least I am" she replied, looking at the others, who nodded. As if on queue, a small flock of owls soared into the dining hall via the windows in the rafters.

"Really? I'm going to have to ask Jim about that in class today." He said, astonished.

"Speaking of which, we need to get going." Joey said, glancing at his watch. They got up and made their way to Classroom 13.

"Hello all. This is Fredrick Wright. He and I are your teachers and mentors." Jim said when they were all seated at the desks. Fredrick was a squat; balding man with rimless glasses and a determined look about him. He looked as if he could duel Voldemort and give him a fight worth remembering. "Today is going to be fairly simple. We're going to go over your schedule and see where you are in each class so we wont be going over stuff that you know already."

"Classes are as follows:" Wright growled "Monday: Language, Tuesday: Tracking and Spell work, Wednesday: Concealment and Disguise, Thursday: Protection and Planning, Friday: Potions and Psychology, which will include Occlumency and Legilimency. Weekends are reserved for team bonding and the occasional bonus class. Each afternoon after classes, you are to go down to the basement where we have the weight-room to go through a workout so you build up muscles. If you wish, you may leave the facility to go running, but that is it. Understood?" as he ended they were all silent. He was like Professors McGonagall and Snape; he could make a class silent without trying. "Now. Lets get started."

They spent the next four and a half hours getting tested in the most trying and brutally difficult tests they had every been through. It became clear that even though he was the youngest and had yet to finish school, Harry was the best on his team. The team trudged out of the classroom at lunchtime and spent lunch wolfing down anything they could get their hands on. Except for Julia, all she ate was a small salad and she swatted any hand that came close to it, which Harry could not blame her for. After lunch, Harry, Joey, Mitch, Rolf, Scotty, and T.J. headed back to training while Julia went to a healer class. The second part of the day was shorter than the first because they needed time to go to the basement, so after two and a half hours, Savage and Wright stopped the testing and dismissed them to the basement.

"Jim? Can I have a word?" Harry asked as the others filed out of the room, clearly disgruntled.

"Sure Harry. What's up?" he asked with a look of genuine concern.

"Well, it's just that you told me I wouldn't be allowed to send or receive any post, but everyone else on my team can. I was just wondering why." Harry explained in a rush. It had been bothering him since breakfast and it felt good to finally be able to voice it.

"Well…I suppose it's to…what's the word? Punish I guess. Anyway, it's the ministry's way of punishing you for not finishing school. I think it's completely idiotic as we _asked_ you to join, but not my call so there you go." He said, shrugging, "so no letter-writing for you Mr. Potter. But" he dropped his voice, "if you can find a way to communicate _without_ letters, there's nothing we can do." He winked and walked out of the room. Harry ran from the classroom to the gym, which indecently was in the dungeons and required going down several flights of stairs to get there. He got there to find his team already working on some of the machines. He recognized a lot of the machines from ones on display in muggle stores. He knew how to operate most of them and as a result ended up spending most of his time teaching the others how to use them so that they wouldn't end up hurting themselves. He relayed his conversation with Savage to Joey as they did bench presses.

"Odd that he's encouraging you to break the rules, isn't it?" Joey said panting between sets.

"Yeah but if I can figure it out, it'd be great wouldn't it?" Harry lifted the weight twice more as he spoke. Joey merely nodded before going back to his workout. The group continued until the next team walked in, so they walked back up to their common room to shower before dinner. All the while, Harry was thinking of ways to communicate with people outside of training without having to write letters or send anything.

**Whooohooo!!!! Another chapter complete! I cant even begin to describe the insanity of my schedule right now, so here's the short version: I'm REALLY busy with school and my grandmother's 80****th**** birthday, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next but I would LOVE it if you reviewed.**


	19. Meeting New Friends

**Harry's POV**

"Rise and shine Boss" Joey walked into Harry's room to find him lying face down with his head buried in his pillow. Harry grunted in response and rolled over. He grabbed his glasses and shoved them on his face.

"What's that?" Harry sat up and was now pointing at a shiny rectangle hovering over Joey's right shoulder.

"This? Oh, this is a muggle video camera. Its bewitched to run in magic." He explained.

"Why though?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"I want to be able to see exactly what happened here and be able to show it to everyone without a pensive." Harry nodded and climbed out of bed. He stumbled to the bathroom as Joey left, closing the door behind him. Harry showered and went and sat in the common room, waiting for the rest of his team. When they showed up, they went down to breakfast. It didn't take long before Joey was explaining the video camera to the team. After twenty or so minutes discussing the pros and cons of the camera, they got up and went to class.

"Alright Aurors! This is John. He's in his third year of training and has kindly agreed to help you if need be." Wright barked as soon as the door closed. John had a thick build and short brown hair. He looked tough but there was something about him that didn't feel quite right. Harry had the nagging feeling that he had seen him before, but he couldn't place where.

"Good morning newbies! As Professor Wright so _right_ly stated," he smiled at his own joke, "I am Auror John Corner, but you can call me 'John'. I and the rest of my team, who are currently in the weight-room, are here to help and instruct you the best we can." He ended his speech by bowing slightly. It was well rehearsed and sounded like something Percy Weasley would write if he were to write a speech for the minister. The rest of the morning class was spent dueling and protecting one member of the team, in time it was Julia, but they had been told that it would switch off as necessary. The lesson was often interrupted by John shouting out unnecessary advice and instruction. Like the day before, they trouped out of the classroom and down to dinning hall.

"Wow. John's a real piece of work, huh?" T.J. said as they where in line getting food.

"Yeah. He's a jerk." Mitch agreed, picking up a sandwich.

"Pardon me? But are you talking about John Corner?" a voice from behind Harry asked.

"Yeah. Do 'ya know him?" Scotty asked him.

"Yes I do, unfortunately." The man laughed, "'round here we just call him Jackass John. Not to his face, obviously, but its what we call him more often than not."

"It fits though. Don't it?" Scotty agreed. The team nodded as the man laughed again.

"I'm Fallon by the way." He said. He was of medium height with shoulder length reddish-brown hair.

"Hi Fallon, I'm Julia. Would you like to sit with us?" Julia asked.

"Sure, that'd be great." Fallon smiled at her. The group walked over to a clear table and sat down.

"So you met Jules. I'm Joey; this is Scotty. That's T.J. and there's Mitch and Rolf" Joey pointed to each person as he introduced them.

"Missed one." Fallon told Joey.

"Did I? Didn't realize. Oh, yes. _This _is Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One, The One-Who-Conquered-All. Whatever the hell you want to call him" Joey amended.

"Nice to meet you. I assume that Harry's your leader?" Fallon looked around at the table.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Mitch asked.

"You'd have to be crazy to have Harry Potter on a team and not elect him leader" they laughed and nodded and continued to talk until it was time to go back to class, minus Julia who was again going to healer training. Once there, they continued as before.

"Alright. That was good for a second day, but you will be getting better." Jim said after what seemed like days of endless dueling, "so it's time for you to be going to the work-out room, but first I have a surprise." the team sat up a little straighter as Savage reached behind the desk and pulled out a cardboard box.

"These are what we like to call Auror phones." He pulled out what looked like a black rectangle out of the box and tossed it to Mitch. "They're basically muggle cell phones but they've been charmed so that they can only be called by another Auror phone." He tossed another one to both Joey and Scott, "the phones are nearly indestructible. The only things that they can't handle are Fiendfyre and any Unforgivable Curse. You can also pick what happens when someone calls you—a ringtone I think they call it… anyway, to call your partner, you press and hold number 2." He tossed the remaining phones to T.J, Rolf, and Harry. Once Harry caught his, Jim threw another one at him, instructing that it was for Julia. "You can set the other speed dials by doing this" he showed them what to do and how to work the phone before they got up and went down to the work out room.

Over the next few weeks, Harry and his team fell into a routine. Joey woke everyone up in the morning then they went to breakfast. After which they went to class, where John would sometimes come 'help out' and then went to lunch, where Fallon occasionally would eat with them, then back to class. When class was over, they went to the weight-room to work out. The work out that Harry found that had quickly became his favorite was running. Not long after they started their routine, he discovered that no matter what was bothering him, running pushed it to the back of his head. He felt like he was in a different world and that if he just pushed a little harder, nothing could touch him. His team often had to remind him that he had to do other work outs—not just running.

"Great work-out today!" Mitch stretched as they walked up to their rooms.

"Yeah I thought we were going to have to hex the Boss-man to get 'im off that damn treadmill." Scotty laughed, jokingly shoving Harry, who was also laughing, and causing him to run into the wall.

"Why _do_ you love running so much?" T.J asked.

"I dunno. It like if I just go a little faster, a little farther, none of the bad stuff can get to me." He explained. One other reason, one reason that he was going to keep to himself at all costs, was that it made him forget. He stopped having that dull ache in his stomach from missing Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

"Makes sense I guess…" Rolf nodded as they walked into the common room. They parted ways and headed to their respective rooms to wash up. Harry walked back into the common room a half hour later to find Mitch and Scotty playing chess while Joey strummed on a guitar.

"I didn't know you played the guitar," Harry said, sitting down on one of the couches.

"Yeah, Mom insisted that all of us kids learn to play an instrument. Said that it's really helpful when you're trying to put a stubborn kid to sleep." Joey recalled.

"My dad said the same thing. He had me and Sky learn to play the piano. But she threw a fit so she learned how to play the flute instead." T.J. laughed walking into the room.

"Cool did you bring a piano?" Mitch called from across the room.

"Yeah, I shrunk it and slipped it in my bag. I didn't think I could go for nearly two years with out playing it." He explained.

"Yeah, same here" Joey nodded, banging on the guitar in an exaggerated strumming.

"Can you sing at all?" Rolf had walked in and sat down next to Harry.

"A bit. My sister was the one who got the voice, but my brother and I can hold our own." Joey nodded as Julia walked in, looking slightly harassed.

"What about you?" Rolf asked T.J.

"I'm better at the slow, love song type songs than the rock out stuff." T.J. shrugged.

"Haha that's funny; I'm better at the rock out stuff than the mushy junk." Joey laughed as Julia sat down.

"Love songs are not junk. They're sweet and romantic and when you find someone and have a song, you'll understand." She glared at him.

"A song?" Harry asked

"Yes. You know, a song that describes the relationship or it's the first song that they danced to." Julia sighed.

"Tough healer class?" Harry guessed.

"You have _no_ idea. Apparently, after about two months of training,_ you'll_ be getting your first mission so they have to prepare _me_ to save your lives." She folded her arms across her chest and openly glared at the fireplace as if it had done her a serious personally offence.

"Cool!" Joey said as Mitch exclaimed, "Can't wait!" just as Harry said, "what makes you think that we're going to be getting hurt?"

"Because I've seen your medical history and you have been in and out of the hospital wing at Hogwarts more than the matron has." She directed her glare at him. He recoiled due to the power behind it.

"You've read our medical history?" Scotty asked. But before he could get an answer, Fallon and a handful of other guys came walking in.

"Hello boys." Fallon greeted them by a nod of the head, as his hands were holding bottles of firewhiskey. Actually, once Harry got a better look at the three men who had come in with Fallon, each of them held bottles in their hands.

"We come bearing gifts." One of the guys grinned.

"Yeah, we do. Oh this is Mason" Fallon indicated the one who had spoken. Then he pointed to a shorter man with straw colored hair, "Shane. And Garret" he pointed to a red-haired, broad-shouldered man, with his head.

"Excellent. Cant thank you enough." Joey put his guitar down and reached to take the bottle that Shane was handing him. The other three visitors set their bottles down on the coffee table, then Mason conjured up eleven glasses, one for each of them.

"Right, so rule number one of drinking as an Auror is to make sure you can hold your liquor. Number two is to not drink too much because you never know then you're going to be called to an emergency, of course while you're in training, that rule is optional. Rule number three is to make sure you have plenty of hangover potion on hand and that you have at least one person who doesn't need the potion so they can administer it." Fallon ticked the rules off on his fingers as he went over them; he then looked to his teammates to make sure he didn't miss any of them.

"I think you got them all." Garret nodded.

"Wait. Before we start, we have to do a team thing." Joey stopped Scotty, as he was about to pour some amber liquid into his glass, "we have to do the daily question."

"Oh right! I'd completely forgotten about that!" Julia squealed, and then asked, "alright so what's your best friends name? Mine's Emma."

"My best mate and brother-in-law's name is Oliver." Mitch answered.

"I have two best friends: Ron and Hermione. Both of them are more like family after all we've been through, but still…" Harry replied.

"I don't have many friends. But Alfie was my first friend, so I guess him" Rolf said, turning to Joey.

"Ethan" was all that Joey said. He refused to look anyone in the eye, almost as if he was ashamed, but then Scott spoke up: "Callum. We've been mates since our first year at school.

"His name's Chris and we've been friends since our third year at school." T.J. told them. Everyone in the room nodded and was silent for a moment before Garret poured everyone some firewhiskey and raised his glass.

"To friends: new and old." He said. The others mimicked his words and drank their share.

*****

"_And Odo the hero, they bore him back home_

_To the place that he'd known as a lad,_

_They laid him to rest with his hat inside out_

_And his wand snapped in two, which was sad."_ Everyone but Julia, Harry, T.J. and Mitch sang while Joey attempted to play along on his guitar, but was finding it difficult as he was seeing double. _Odo the Hero_ was one of the more tame drinking songs that they had sung so far.

"They're going to have such a massive headache in the morning." Julia told the three boys quietly.

"Yeah. Do you have any hangover potion for them?" Harry asked her.

"Yes. It's fairly easy to make. I always have some on hand, just incase." She smiled and stood up, "I think I'm going to bed. We missed dinner, but I'd rather go to bed hungry than show up in the dining hall followed by the Pissed Posse."

"I didn't think she'd swear." Mitch muttered as soon as she was in her room, behind closed doors.

"Just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover." T.J. replied.

"So you think that we should take Fallon, Mason, Shane and Garret back to their common room or just leave them here?" Harry asked as Fallon, Mason, Joey and Scotty passed out, one by one.

"We'll leave them here. Just make sure you lock the door so they can't go anywhere and hurt themselves." Mitch groaned as he stood up and stretched. He bid Harry and T.J. goodnight and left.

"I think we should turn in too." T.J said.

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea" they stood up and Harry pointed his wand at the door, making it lock.

"Harry, its time to wake up." Mitch walked in today. Harry assumed it was because Joey, who usually woke him up, was passed out in the common room. He got out of bed and, as usual, went to his bathroom to shower.

When he walked into the common room twenty minutes later to find Julia administering the hangover potion to Scotty, who was lying on the floor, clutching a half full bottle of mead.

"Oh good you're here." She said in a business-like tone, "do me a favor and give this to Joey because he seems to think I'm trying to poison him." She rolled her eyes and handed him a glass of orange liquid. He nodded and walked over to where Joey was laying, sprawled in an armchair, hugging his guitar with an empty glass in his hand.

"Joey." Harry said quietly, kneeling down next to him so he was eye level with his passed out partner.

"Stop screaming!" he muttered, wincing.

"I'm not screaming. Your hearing is just sensitive because of how much you drank last night." Harry took the empty glass out of his partner's hand and removed the guitar from his grasp. Placing the hangover potion in Joey's hands Harry said, "drink this. It'll make the headache go away." Obediently, Joey chugged the potion in one. Moments later, his eyes came into focus and he stopped wincing from the noise of Scotty groaning.

"Better?" Harry chuckled. Joey nodded and sat up.

"Wow. That must have been some party!" Joey said surveying where all the Aurors had passed out, "I don't remember a thing."

"That's probably a good thing. I only had a bit and the more all of you drank, the crazier you got." Harry laughed as he and his partner watched as Mitch and Julia revived all of the fallen Aurors.

"Good thing I have this then, huh?" Joey grinned, indicating the video camera still hovering above his right shoulder.

"How can you watch what's been recorded?" Mitch asked, having over heard their conversation while attempting to revive Shane.

"I can conjure up a projector and we can watch it like that." He explained.

"Like a muggle slide projector?" Harry asked, perplexed, "wouldn't it just be easier to conjure a television?"

"Well yeah…if you want to do it the easy and less fun way, sure." Joey nodded, "I'll figure it out after breakfast."

"You mean after classes." Julia corrected, pouring hangover potion into Fallon's mouth.

"Uhh…." He groaned, "John's gonna kill me."

"He's your team head?" T.J asked him, having walked in the room a few moments before.

"Yeah…and he's my partner." He muttered sitting up. It took a few more minutes before everyone was conscious and ready to leave. Harry undid the lock on the door and led his team down to the dining hall while those on John's team went to their common room to clean up.

"That was fun but next time, lets do it on a weekend; I fee like hell and I really don't want to go to class." Joey said as they got in line for breakfast.

"Then you should drink some strong, black coffee." Mitch suggested.

"Or we could just never do it again. I didn't like how they just barged in. and anyway, do we really want to be hanging around with John's team?" Julia said, putting eggs on her plate.

"Well, they're clearly not like Jackass John in any way, shape or form." Rolf pointed out.

"I guess you're right…." She said before they sat down and ate quickly before rushing off to class.

**I'm SOOOO sorry about the delay, but school's been crazy. I'm sorry about how short it is, but I figure a short chapter is better than no chapter at all so.... I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up, but I promise that it will be as soon as I can! PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

**P.S. I'm sorry if that's not how hung-over people act but I've never been hung-over so I just went by what I've read/ seen on T.V.**


	20. New Names

**Disclaimer: I do not own JKR's world, if I did, this would be getting published.**

**I'm sorry I haven't updated, but life's been SOOO crazy. I figured that you'd rather have a shorter chapter than no chapter at all.**

**Harry's POV**

"Within the next few days, you will be receiving your first mission. It wont be anything to complicated, but you will need to use the skills you have already acquired and remember to trust your instincts and trust each other." Wright was saying at the end of a very trying training session of Potions ending with some Occlumency and Legilimency. A few weeks had passed since the drinking incident and due to the invading of each other's mind, Julia had recently discovered the identity of Harry's girlfriend. Which brought the total of people who knew (other than Harry), to three. Joey broke into Harry's room while he was in the shower and went through his pictures before finding one of him and Ginny by the lake at Hogwarts, holding hands and Harry leaning in to give Ginny a kiss on her cheek. As soon as Joey stopped grilling Harry for details about his 'smokin' hot girl', Harry placed several spells around his photo albums to make them appear blank unless it was he who looked at them.

The last was Mitch. Harry and Mitch had gone for a run the day before and, while they were sharing stories about home, he let slip that he couldn't 'wait to get home to see Ginny'. He then had to admit she was his girlfriend. All three were doing a remarkably good job at keeping privet and Jim seemed pleased with their success when he asked who had figured out the great mystery.

"On a related note, Harry your presence has been requested at Hogwarts to teach for a week or so at the end of October. You have the choice of either taking your team with you, or leaving them here." Jim told Harry, "you don't have to decide right now, but sometime before you go would be best." Harry nodded then, at Jim's dismissal, left the classroom. The team made their way to the gym and went about their usual routines. It was impressive with the amount of muscle that they were getting. They had all bulked up considerable and this was probably most noticeable in Harry. His arms and legs had become thicker and more defined and his shoulders more broad. His chest was, if at all possible, even more defined than it was before. These changes made him quite popular with the female Aurors and Healers. Harry had taken to going to dinner carrying a vile of love potion antidote, which he poured in his drink. If he forgot or was out, then he would smell the food to see if he could detect any traces of potion and if there was, he wouldn't eat.

"So boss, are you going to bring us to Hogwarts?" Joey asked between bench sets.

"Haven't thought about it" Harry grunted, lifting the barbells then lowering them back to his chest, "he only told me five minutes ago."

"I think you should. Once we get there, we can go home while you teach then we come back here when it's over." T.J called from across the room as Scotty nodded his approval of the plan.

"You're just saying that so y'all can go see your girlfriends." Joey accused.

"I wouldn't mind being able to see my wife, even if it is only for a week." Mitch entered the conversation while on the lat machine.

"All right then. If that's what you'll do then sure, by all means come." Harry panted, putting the barbells back. The workout ended and they headed back up to their rooms to shower.

When Harry walked into the common room, he saw Rolf and Scotty playing Exploding Snap while T.J. tried to keep up with the wireless (which Joey made sure was never turned off and was always on his favorite station) on his piano. Julia sat in the blue chaise lounge near the windows reading.

"So I heard we're going to Hogwarts in October." Julia said looking up.

"Yeah. But Mitch, T.J, Scotty and maybe Joey are going to go visit their families while I teach." Harry sat down on the couch that was facing her.

"Your girlfriend is at Hogwarts right?" she asked. He nodded, not wanting the others who had not yet figured it out to hear.

"So that'll be nice." She was about to go back to her book when Joey walked in.

"Wow. What are you wearing?" T.J. laughed. Harry quite agreed; Joey looked like he had rummaged through the closets of the men in the muggle gossip magazines that Aunt Petunia read. He was wearing dark jeans and a blue shirt with white, dark green and pea green horizontal stripes under a tan blazer. The most amazing part of the entire outfit was that Joey had combed his hair; something he had not done since they had gotten to the training base.

"Yeah well, I have a date tonight." Joey said, a defensive note in his voice.

"We're not allowed to leave base. Where could you possibly be going for a date?" asked Julia incredulously.

"I was planning on grabbing some food in the dining hall then going to her common room and hanging out." He explained, "Unless you have a better idea?"

"No. I was just wondering." Julia looked back at her book and continued reading.

"So how did you get this date?" T.J. asked as Joey went and got his guitar from its stand next to the wireless, which was currently playing some song about how love remembers.

"I saw her reading under a tree while I was coming back from a run and we started talking. She got really excited when I told her I was you're your team, boss, and she got even more excited when I said that we're partners. Then I 'let slip' that you had a girlfriend and she decided that I might not be so bad after all." He shrugged, sitting next to Harry and trying to play along with the song on the wireless.

"If she's settling, you need to take this opportunity to prove her wrong." Julia said without looking up from her book.

"What do you suggest?" Joey raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know" she said simply, "why not ask them?" she nodded towards Harry, T.J, and Scotty.

"Well? Any ideas?" Joey asked. They thought for a moment before Scotty and T.J. shook their heads. "What about you, Boss-man?"

"Well she was outside reading so she likes the outdoors… maybe you should get some food in the dining hall to go then go and have a picnic out on the front lawn." Harry suggested.

"Yeah that's brilliant!" Joey exclaimed.

"When did you become romantic?" Scotty grinned at Harry.

"Honestly? I have no idea." Harry shrugged.

"Hey guys!" Mitch interrupted their conversation.

"What's up Mitchy?" Joey asked, turning around.

"We haven't done our daily question yet." He reminded them.

"Oh right! Its Harry's day." Julia was now fully in the conversation, so much so that she put her book away.

"I've been thinking about it all day and I can't find a good question." Harry admitted.

"I've got an idea, if you want it." Joey offered.

"Alright, go for it." Harry nodded.

"Full names." He said.

"Brilliant!" Scotty laughed, "I'm Scott Adam Polker."

"I'm Joseph Robert Collins, _Jr_." Joey put emphasis on 'Jr', "how 'bout you Jules?"

"Julia Ann Holeburg" she sat up a little straighter as she said it, "T.J.?" she looked at him

"Timothy James Blacken." He sighed.

"Mine's Mitchell Jeffrey Gissmills, the seventh." Mitch said.

"Seriously?! The _seventh_?" Scotty exclaimed as the others gaped at him.

"No, I'm just messing with you. I'm the one and only." Mitch laughed, "what about you, Rolf?"

"_Rudolf _Benjamin Scamander" he said his full first name, disgusted.

"You're the only one left boss." Scott said to Harry.

"Harry James Potter." He told them.

"So what's your nickname?" Joey asked.

"What?" asked Harry, confused.

"We all have a nickname, except for you." Joey explained, "Mine's Joey or Joe. T.J is T.J. or Teege. Scotty is Scotty. Mitch or Mitchy or any variation there of. Julia, Jules. And Rolf is Rolf. You're the only one who doesn't have a nickname or, as my mom called it, an in-trouble name."

"You call me 'Boss' or 'Boss-man'" Harry argued.

"Yeah but that's not a nickname from your name." Scotty pointed out.

"So what's 'Harry' a nickname for?" Julia asked. She seemed to get a renewed interest in the conversation.

"Harold, Harrison, Henry." Rolf listed.

"I like 'Henry' best." T.J. said

"Me too." Joey nodded.

"Why?" Julia asked.

"Harold sounds too old and Harrison is too long." He explained.

"So 'Enry it is then?" Scotty asked.

"Yup. When the boss is in trouble, he's Henry." Joey nodded.

"But it's not my name!" Harry protested.

"Too bad." Scotty shrugged.

"You're going to lose this argument, Harry. I suggest you give up." Rolf interrupted Harry when he was about to argue again. He was about to ignore Rolf and start arguing again, but Fallon stuck his head in the door.

"Hey, are you lot gonna go to the fights tonight?" he asked.

"What fight?" Mitch asked the newcomer

"Every Friday we go down to the gym and beat the shit out of each other in the boxing ring." He explained.

"That's totally barbaric!" Julia exclaimed, "I'm not going!"

"Most of the Healers don't go." Fallon nodded as if he had expected this response, "anyway, Harry, you're a team leader so you're obligated to fight at least once, boxing rules."

"Ok, I guess. Just one." He sighed before they stood up at went down for dinner or, in Joey's case, his date.

~~~****~~~

Harry woke up sore on Monday. He won his first fight, which got him a lot of challengers. He wanted to decline but Fallon told him that it would lose him a lot of respect and it was considered offensive. One by one, he fought all of his challengers and, one by one, he won all of them, although the last one was a close call.

He limped into class because of a fairly nasty fall he had taken in one of the fights. He took his seat as Wright and Savage walked in.

"Congratulations Harry. I haven't seen someone win that much in years!" Jim laughed.

"Yes it was very impressive" Wright smiled slightly, "Now, on to the lesson; today we continue learning French. Open the books on your desk to page 24" he barked.

The next week and a half passed in a blur. Their routine solidified and soon the only thing changing was who was trying to slip Harry love potion each day or who Joey was going on a date with on Friday night. The team sat in class on Friday, waiting for Wright to stop his lecture on the importance of lacewing flies in potions.

"Alright Fredrick that's enough for today." Jim intervened, stopping the twenty-minute lecture, "you all are one of our most impressive teams and definitely one of the best. You will be going on your first mission tomorrow. The head of the Aurors decided that you are qualified to do a special ops mission. Pack tonight, and then after you finish the job, you can go straight to Hogwarts. You'll be getting briefed in the morning. Class dismissed!"

"We have received intelligence that a small group of Death Eaters have been stolen an item of great importance from the Department of Mysteries." Savage told them the next morning, "It is in a silver flask and it is one of the most deadly and dangerous liquids known. It is so dangerous that a small drop makes you implode, killing not only yourself, but also any one within a ten-foot radius. Your job it to get the flask back and, if possible, get the Death Eaters behind it. Any questions?"

"Do we have to report in?" Julia asked.

"Yes; twice a day. Call me on your Auror phone. Or I call you." He said with a stern look, "anything else?"

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.  
"They're staying in an abandoned warehouse; you'll be in a safe house across the street. You should a bit of a stake out to see what you're up against then, go in for the kill. Remember: your main priority is the flask. Catch the Death Eaters if you can." He said before sending them to their safe house by portkey.

**Oooo!!! A cliffhanger!! Aren't I evil? I know it was a spastic and random chapter but it was a lot of set up stuff. PLEASE REVIEW. Oh, guess what!! Harry should be going to Hogwarts **_**in the next chapter**_**!!! PLEASE REVIEW.**

**P.S: the song on the radio was Craig Morgan's **_**Love Remembers**_**. I LOVE that song so much!! PLEASE REVIEW.**

**P.P.S: I'm sorry if I offended anyone named Harrison or Harold, but I needed a reason why those wouldn't work because the 'Henry' thing might come up a bit. (And yes I know it's random, but I do think that everyone should have a nickname.)**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**

**Please go to my profile page and vote for how many times Harry should go to Hogwarts!!!!!! And REVIEW!!**


	21. Watching Harry

**Disclaimer: I'm **not** JKR. Never have been; never will be. (Sighs heavily, looking into space) **

**Happy Reading!!**

**POV: Harry's Auror Team **

**(That's why they don't know who Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Lavender and all them are)**

Five cloaked figures appeared outside the gates of Hogwarts to be met by a thin, unkempt man carrying a lantern.

"Hello." he wheezed, "I'm Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker. Follow me to the Great Hall. They're in the middle of dinner." The group followed him up the drive of the school, not talking as tension filling the cool night air. The group had just come from their first mission, but that was not what was causing them anguish. They walked into the Great Hall just as pudding was underway. The headmistress saw them immediately and hurried to them, meeting them in the middle of the Hall.

"Hello. I am Minerva McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I assume you are the Auror team Jim said was coming?" she said quickly as students in the hall started to take notice that they were there.

"Yes Professor." Mitch said.

"Good, good. So where is Mr. Potter?" she asked, looking at each of them in turn as if to make sure she had not missed him amongst the small crowed.

"He's with his partner, Joey. They should be here any second." Julia informed her, glancing over her shoulder, willing them to walk in, unscathed. The whole hall looked at the door with her and nothing happened.

"All right then. If you would like to put your things in your quarters, I will have Argus show you where they are and I'll have some food brought to you, along with tomorrow's schedule to be given to Mr. Potter when he arrives." McGonagall said as Filch appeared and motioned for them to follow him.

*********

The next morning was uneventful. Neither Harry nor Joey had called or given any word as to whether or not they were all right and coming to Hogwarts soon. Julia spent most of her time that day with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing, to 'keep her skills sharp', so it was up to TJ, Rolf, Scotty, and Mitch to teach the classes. After lunch, they were due for a double period with the seventh years; the only class any of them were looking forward to, meaning, Julia would be there.

"Alright seventh years! We are your temporary teachers until Harry or Professor Collins gets back." Mitch began, closing the door and walking to the front of the classroom, "I am Mitch Gissmills. You can call me Mr. Mitch or sir."

"Mr. Mitch? Really?" Scotty laughed, "Ya sound like eh bleedin' idiot. They should just call ya 'Mitch'."

"Fine. Mitch. This annoying bugger is Scotty. That one" he pointed to Rolf who was sitting by the window, reading a magazine, "is Rolf and this is T.J and the girl is Julia"

"I'm not an annoying bugger! I'm a well-respected Scotsman." Scotty grinned at Mitch.

"Whatever you are, you are a member of Harry's team." Julia said, stopping the argument.

"Wait a moment. Did you say _Harry's _Auror team?" a bushy headed girl's hand shot into the air.

"Yeah. Harry, Harry Potter. Do you know him?" Julia asked.

"No she has _no idea_ who you're talking about." Mitch rolled his eyes, "No one in here has ever heard of Harry Potter, A.K.A the Boy-Who-Lived, A.K.A the Chosen One, A.K.A the One-Who-Saved-All, A.K.A… oh, I could be here for days, but you get my point?"

"That was rude and unnecessary, but yes I get your point; it was a stupid question." Julia said harshly before turning back to the girl, "what I meant was: do you know Harry well Miss…?"

"Granger. And yes I do."

"You wouldn't happen to be _Hermione_ Granger, would you?" Mitch asked curiously.

"Oh…yes I am. Why?" she asked tentatively.

"Why didn't I recognize her before? I've seen her in Harry's memories!" Julia exclaimed.

"I beg your pardon" Hermione looked appalled by their lack of answering questions.

"We have to learn Occlumency and Legilimency. Most of the time I have to take turns with Joey and Harry because there's an odd number and—"

"Jules, they don't need our life stories." Mitch interrupted her, and then said to the class, "we have to look at each other's memories, so we know some names and faces of important people in Harry's life—or at least she and Joe do. They practice with Harry most. They are also the only other people, besides me, to solve the Girlfriend Mystery."

"What's that?" a good-looking redhead asked.

"Savage knew that we'd tell each other about our girlfriends/ wives and he wanted Harry to keep his a secret because he wanted us to put our detective skills to good use. The only people who have figured it out are Joey, Julia, and me." Mitch explained.

"Yes so if you're Hermione" Julia pointed at her, then at the redhead, "_you_ must be Ginny."

"Yeah. Weasley." Ginny said uncertainly.

"Wow. That's—wow." Mitch let out a low whistle.

"He kept that quiet." Scotty exclaimed, looking scandalized.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"'E never mentioned that the little Weasley girl was so… damn." Scotty trailed off, looking her up and down, smiling slightly.

"Hey, watch it! She has a boyfriend." A large black boy called from behind Ginny.

"You her boyfriend?" Scott asked him.

"No but I know him. He's a big bloke. You wouldn't want to cross him. He's the jealous type." He said, glaring at Scotty. Scotty just nodded and began to ramble about _his_ girlfriend. After a few, very dull minutes of this, Joey rushed in the room, gasping for air. He ran to the front of the room where he nearly collapsed, but Mitch steadied him.

"Are you alright?" Mitch asked Joey urgently.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He gasped, "just ran from where I Apperated to here"

"Alright, here you go." He set Joey back on his feet, "if that run left you like this, you need to go running with the boss more often."

"Speaking of whom, where is Harry?" Julia asked.

"I dunno." Joey replied looking around the classroom, as if expecting him to suddenly appear, "not here."

"You _lost_ your partner?" Julia yelled.

"I did not lose him!" Joey bellowed, "he gave me this" he withdrew a crumpled envelope out of his back pocket, "and told me not to open it until I got to Hogwarts, he also said that if you started telling me off for leaving him, to tell you that he's a big boy and can take care of himself"

"Wow Harry really knows us well." Rolf mused, before being cut off by Julia: "what does the letter say?" Joey shrugged before tearing into the letter and reading aloud:

"_Alright, I know you're mad that I'm not at Hogwarts but believe me, I have a good reason why. While we were spying on the Death Eaters, I became aware that they were holding people hostage. I contacted Jim who told me to get them out after we completed our mission, which we have done so I am now following Jim's orders. Don't worry about me and if I get a little roughed up— its all a part of the plan. _

_I realize you're first instinct is to come after me and try to help, but don't. Trust me when I say you will ruin the plan, and yes for any Gryffindors listening, I _do_ actually have a plan, and this time it's foolproof. You know that I _never_ give direct orders unless lives depend on it. Well consider this a direct order to take my spot at Hogwarts until I can get there._

_Harry_

_P.S. If you have any questions about why I'm going to such lengths to save the hostages, ask any Gryffindor seventh year, who are probably in your class now._

"How did he know that there was going to be a classroom of Gryffindors when we read the letter?" T.J. asked.

"Because he's the boss and he knows everything." Joey said.

"If he gets back here in one piece, I'm going to kill him." Julia fumed, glaring at the letter.

"You mean, 'when' he gets back." Ginny said quietly.

"Oh yes of course." Julia blinked, "so sorry."

"You might have to get in line to kill him though, Jules. He said something about his girlfriend murdering him." Joey chuckled.

"Its not funny" Julia muttered.  
"So…" T.J. sighed, "What do we do now? What do we teach them?" he gestured to the seventh years.

"I don't know." Julia shrugged.

"Why don't we talk about the boss?" Joey suggested, "he said in his letter to ask any Gryffindor seventh year about why he's going to 'such lengths to save the hostages' and I want to know why it's so impressive that he has a plan."

"So basically, you want _them_ to teach_ us_?" Julia looked doubtful.

"Have you never wondered about his schooldays?" Joey asked her, eyebrows raised, "about his childhood? If he didn't become famous as a baby, I'd swear that he just popped into existence as the Harry we know now."

"'S true. Its hard to imagine 'im as a kid." Scotty nodded.

"So it's settled then?" Joey said, "will y'all tell us about Harry's schooldays?"

"'Y'all?" a blonde girl asked.

"Yes. It's the contraction of 'you all' and the plural of 'y'all' is 'all y'all'. I'm from America. It's how we talk where I'm from." Joey explained. He paused for a moment before adding, "What's your name?"

"Lavender Brown." She said.

"Right. So Lavender, why don't you start?" Joey smiled at her.

"Well, Harry was in my year and he got into all sorts of trouble. I never really was around him outside of class, although I did date his best friend for a little while back in sixth year" she said.

"'Course they weren't dating so much as snogging buddies." A sandy-haired boy said. He was sitting next to the large black boy who had told off Scotty.

"Oh shut up Seamus." Lavender snapped at him.

"Well, who is Harry's best mate?" Mitch asked.

"My brother, Ron." Ginny said, "and her boyfriend." She pointed to Hermione.

"You're Hermione then?" Joey asked. She nodded so he continued, "it's always dangerous to date your brother's best friend."

"She doesn't need your lecturing Joey." Julia silenced him.

"I'm just looking out for—" he began but she cut him off.

"You don't need to look out for her! She has friends and family for that. Plus, she doesn't even know you!" Joey was about to retaliate but singing from his pocket stopped him.

_What I love about the South _

_If you need a Dixie Fix just a' come on down_

_It's what I love— _

He answered, "Yo, ya got Joe" he paused listening to the response "Hey Boss! We were just talking about you— no, no nothing bad," he laughed for a moment before stopping suddenly. "Who are you talking to?" he demanded, "what'd do you mean you're being held hostage!?" the room when deadly silent as soon as Joey finished his sentence. "Sure, I'll put you on speakerphone. Just a sec" Joey pushed a button on the side of the phone then set it on the teacher's desk. "Alright. You're good."

"Hey guys." Harry's voice came through the phone clearly, "how's it going?"

"We're fine. We just want to know where you are." TJ said.

"Well I'm afraid I can't tell you that. But I can tell you that I'm fine and that what ever you do right now, don't say my name. The people holding me haven't figured it out yet and I think it'd work better if it stayed that way." Harry informed them.

"No. He doesn't mean that." A new, gruff voice said, "say his name. The sooner we find out, the easier time he'll have."

"Oh don't listen to him. He's here to try and make my life miserable but he's about four years late so he's grumpy." Harry laughed, "I called to tell you I'm fine and I'll be out of here before you know it."

Harry's captor muttered something like "that's what he thinks."

"Anyway, so what's new with you?" Harry asked.

"Nothing. We were just teaching the seventh years." Julia said.

"Cool. Hey seventh years!" Harry called.

"Hello!" Hermione called.

"Wow! I haven't heard your voice in a while! Hey Hermione!" you could hear the smile in Harry's voice as he said it.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, worried etched all over face.

"I'm fine Ginny. A little roughed up and tied to a chair, but yeah completely fine." He laughed a little and the smile in his voice was even more evident.

"Rap it up, we're on a tight schedule here and it's time for your haircut." The mystery voice barked.

"Alright! I'm fine. I'll be at Hogwarts within the next few days, so don't worry. Oh, and Joey?" he asked

"Yeah Boss?" Joey replied.

"Whatever you do, don't go looking in my mind. Got it?" he said.

"Yeah. I hear 'ya loud and clear."

"Good be there soon." They said farewell and Joey closed the phone.

"What the hell was that about?" Mitch demanded.

"He was telling us that we can't look in _his_ mind but we have his permission to look in the guy who's holding him's mind." Joey explained.

"And how do we do that?" T.J. asked.

"I'm a bit busy, Rolf, will you explain it?" Joey asked, waving his wand in complicated motions.

"There's a magical instrument that works like a pensive. You can give it a memory and it will project it so loads of people can see it without going into a pensive. It also works if you are using Legilimency." Rolf explained as Joey conjured what looked like a cross between a motorcycle helmet and a horseback riding helmet, but with a shiny back disk where, when worn, the forehead would be.

"So I just put this on and find Harry's mind then jump to the other guy's mind and you can see everything he sees." Joey explained putting it on his head. He conjured a stool and set it in the middle of the classroom, next to Ginny and Hermione's desk.

"But should we do it with the class in here?" T.J. asked, "It might get a bit graphic"

"Do you mind?" Mitch asked the class at large who answered with a resounding 'No'.

"Alright that's settled then" Mitch nodded and sat on the windowsill.

"Why do you get to do it?" Julia demanded as Joey fastened the strap under his chin.

"Because Harry addressed the message to me and because he's my partner." Joey glared at her, stopping the argument. He closed his eyes for a few minutes before saying, "I've found Harry… and now I've got his captor." The disk on Joey's forehead glowed blue and an image appeared on the wall behind the teacher's desk. Harry was sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back and his head bowed as if in prayer. The room was bare except for Harry (who was bound to his chair in the middle of the room), an empty chair and an old wood table.

"Alright. You got to make your call. Now it's haircut time." The gruff-voiced man barked at Harry. As Harry looked up, the class let out a collective gasp as they saw his face. He had a dark purple bruise on his cheek and a gash on one of his dry and cracked lips.

The man opened the door to the cell and hollered "Phil! Get in here and give the prisoner his haircut."

"I'm coming! Keep your hair on!" the man called Phil laughed at his own joke as he hurried down the hall and into the room. Phil was a pudgy, short, balding man. He was carrying a pair of kitchen shears and what looked like electric hair clippers (the kind used to shave heads or give brutally short haircuts) in one hand and a black leather bag in the other.

"Why don't you just use your wand?" Harry asked as Phil conjured a cloth to keep the hair off of him.

"I was raised by a wizard barber. He taught me from a young age that when it came to haircuts, nothing beats the good old-fashioned muggle way." Phil explained, then turned to Harry's prison guard, "how short do you want it, Bob?" Bob considered Harry for a moment.

"No matter how short you cut it, it will grow back by tomorrow." Harry warned them.

"As short as you can then." Bob smirked at Harry, who groaned.

"A High and Tight then, my favorite." Phil took the electric clippers and started cutting his hair.

"What's the matter, boy? You don't like haircuts?" Bob cackled at the scowl on Harry's face.

"No. I just feel like I'm reliving my primary school days." Harry gritted his teeth.

"How often did you get tied to chairs when you were in primary school?" Phil asked.

"Twice. But that's not what I was referring to." Harry explained.

"And what would that be?" Bob asked.

"The getting a ridiculously short haircut and getting punched for doing nothing wrong." He told his captors.

"Interesting." Bob said, examining his fingernails.

"Oi! Both of you stop talking or I'm gonna end up cutting a chunk of his head off!" Phil ordered.

"Why are they cutting his hair?" the black boy asked.

"I'm not sure." Mitch said.

"Maybe so they won't pull his hair out when they're torturing him for information" Rolf said.

"_If_ they torture him." Joey said then added, "maybe its for Polyjuice Potion."

Scotty turned to Julia, asked, "when is this class over?"

"Not until the period before dinner; it's our last for today and as its Friday, the week." Julia said, her eyes not leaving Harry's head, which was slowly becoming smaller as copious amounts of hair was cut off.

"Alright so we can stay here for a while. We'll just need to send someone for food." Joey reasoned.

"I can solve that." Said Ginny, "on one condition."

"And what would that be?" Mitch asked.

"That we can stay in here if we want to, after class." She said.

"Alright but only if you don't have a class after this one." Julia said, her eyes leaving the projection to look at Ginny.

"Deal" Ginny smiled, although it didn't reach her eyes.

"Food. Now." Joey demanded.  
"Kreacher." Ginny called. With a loud _CRACK_, the old house elf appeared.  
"Yes Miss Ginny?" he croaked.

"We need some sandwiches." Ginny informed the elf who quickly disappeared to get the class sandwiches.

"Problem solved." She told the Aurors as Kreacher appeared with a tray of enough sandwiches to feed a small army, "thank you Kreacher."

"Excellent!" Joey exclaimed, stuffing a sandwich in his mouth, "Now, ba ta 'Arry." He said, his mouth filled.

"Alright so now you've gotten your hair cut, time to change you into your prisoner attire." Phil said, pulling a red-orange button up shirt with 'PRISONER' written across the back.

"This is standard for all the prisoners we have here." Bob explained, tapping the ropes binding Harry's wrists together so they fell off. "Stand up and put this on." Phil handed Harry the shirt.

"You're just going to stand there and watch me?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, to make sure you don't try to make a run for it." Phil replied, "not that you'd have any where to go…"

"Why? Feeling nervous?" Bob smirked.

"No, I just don't want you to feel emasculated when you see my eight-pack." Harry snickered as he took off his glasses and set them on his vacated chair.

"Eight-pack? I doubt it." Bob sneered. Harry smiled and took his shirt off.

The students (mainly the girls) in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom gasped. Harry's chest was more toned than ever and it was true—he did, in fact, have an eight-pack.

"Well, aren't we special?" Phil rolled his eyes as Harry put on the new shirt and started doing up the buttons.

"Alright sit down." Bob ordered when Harry had finished buttoning his shirt and put on his glasses. He sat and put his hands behind his back, waiting while Bob replaced the incantations on the ropes, binding them tightly.

"Why isn't he fighting?" a muscular blonde boy asked.

"It's all part of the 'plan' Neville." Ginny said quietly, "You just have to trust him."

"Last time I trusted him, he walked into the forest to meet Voldemort." The boy called Neville muttered. Ginny shushed him as one of the men was talking.

"Okay. Now that we've established who's in charge, why don't you tell us your name?" Bob asked. He was clearly the enforcer and the muscle while Phil was the sidekick, doing the less glamorous jobs, like cutting hair.

"My name?" Harry asked.

"Yes. We like to know the names of our prisoners before we kill them." Bob sat down in the extra chair across from Harry with the table to his left and his back to the door.

"You're going to kill me?" Harry inquired.

"Eventually." A collective gasp of horror emanated from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom

"Good luck with that." Harry chuckled.

"Shut up and tell me your name." Bob ordered

"Bond. James Bond" Harry leaned back in his chair.

"Good. That wasn't so hard was it, Mr. Bond?" Bob gave 'Bond' a fake smile. Every person in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room who had been raised by at least one muggle or muggle born, laughed.

"Now Mr. Bond. Since you cooperated, you get to ask a question." Bob said.

"You keep saying 'prisoners', are they're more?" 'James Bond' asked.

"Yes. Three, including you." Bob sighed, "any second now, Phil will come with your dinner. Then it's your bedtime." Harry and his guard glared at each other until Phil walked in carrying a tray. He set it on the table and started moving things off the tray. Bob stood and undid the ropes on Harry's hands.

"So I got the name from our prisoner." Bob boasted to his partner.

"Really and what would that be?" Phil asked.

"James Bond." Bob sounded smug. Phil snorted.

"You realize that James Bond is a fictional spy for England created for muggle enjoyment, don't you?" Phil asked.

"Really?" Bob sounded furious. Phil nodded. Bob walked around and faced Harry, who was grimacing.

"You knew this?" he asked his captive. He nodded. Bob drew back his fist and punched Harry in the cheek. Harry's glasses flew off and landed a few feet away, shattering. They glasses had been picked out specifically for this mission. They were thick, black plastic that were so different from his normal glasses that it was no wonder Phil and Bob hadn't been able to figure out what his real name was. Of course, taking a potion that makes scars disappear for thirty hours is an added bonus.

"Don't hit him! We need him able to talk if he's going to be of any use!" Phil yelled accidently upsetting a bowl of soup. He hurried over and repaired the glasses before handing them to Harry who was groaning with his hands covering the side of his face that Bob had attacked.

"Here you are." He handed Harry his glasses.

"Ow. What the hell was that for?" Harry demanded, taking his glasses from Phil.

"You lied." Bob said simply, "when you lie, I punch you. Its an incentive to tell the truth."

"Good to know." Harry panted, blinking rapidly, still clutching his throbbing cheek.

"So now that we understand each other, what's your name?" Bob growled, his face inches from Harry's.

"King George the third." Harry replied without missing a beat, his face deadly serious. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class roared with laughter, even Phil cracked a smile. Bob, however, drew back his hand again and punched Harry for the second time. This time, Harry was knocked unconscious. The students in Defense Against the Dark Arts were in a general uproar. It took several moments before the Aurors could calm them down, reassuring them that it was all a part of the 'plan'

"Really, was it necessary to knock him out?" Phil said angrily, checking 'King George the third's' pulse.

"He lied! I told him I'd deck 'im every time he lied and he goes and lies again! I didn't mean to knock him out but it will just make my message that much more clear." Bob cried.

"Come on; he wont be up until morning." Phil said leading the way out of the room, "we'll come back about nine." Bob nodded and followed.

"Alright. It looks like Harry's fine, minus the being taken prisoner part." Joey said, taking off the helmet.

"Yes we've already used up more than our allotted time so go see if dinner is still being served." Julia suggested.

"Tomorrow's Saturday. Can we come back tomorrow?" Ginny asked.

"Hmm… I think it'd be fine…. What'd you think Jules?" Joey asked Julia.

"I don't think it's a good idea, but" she added quickly when she was met with protests, "I will think about it and ask the headmistress." The class dispersed quietly, their minds heavy with all that they had just witnessed. TJ, Rolf, and Scotty went to the kitchens to get more food while Mitch, Joey and Julia cleaned up the classroom.

"I feel so bad for Ginny, having to there and watch Harry get abused." Julia sighed.

"Yeah. I didn't recognize her. The picture I saw didn't show much of her face. All I could really tell was that she was ridiculously hot." Joey grinned. There was a knock on the door and Ginny, Hermione and a few others walked in.

"Class is over guys." Mitch told them.

"We know. We wanted to talk to you about Harry." Ginny said.

"Yeah, go ahead." Julia prompted.

"Well, in the Legilimency thing, he seemed different." Hermione explained.

"Yeah. It's like he doesn't have anything to lose." Seamus added.

"Well, Harry's the best Auror we have. He has his own style in practically everything." Mitch explained, "he doesn't care for rules or regulations and only follows enough of them to keep the department head happy."

"Yeah, although I bet some of it's a bit of an act to keep us off his back. We give him a hard time when he acts to modest." Joey clarified when the group of students looked confused.

"Of course the only thing he wont take full credit for, no matter now much we bother him about it, is the downfall of Voldemort" Julia said.

"Yeah, we've stopped bringing it up because he argues so much." Joey adopted a voice similar to Harry's and continued, "I swear, _Neville_ killed the snake! All I did was not die!"

"He said that?" the blonde boy from class asked.

"Yeah, why?" Joey said.

"I'm Neville." Neville replied.

"Oh well, according to Harry, you did a lot in effort to stop the war, so thanks." Joey smiled, "Harry's so modest sometimes it sickening."

"Tell me about it." Hermione nodded, "it took ages to convince him that he's better than me in Defense Against the Dark Arts." They talked about Harry late into the night. All three of the Aurors noticed that Ginny was becoming more and more reserved. They knew that she was Harry's girlfriend, but this made them wonder if she thought of Harry as more that just her current boyfriend. After they bid each other good night, the Aurors went to bed, which was pointless as no one slept much that night; they were all worried about Harry and wondered when (if—not that they'd ever admit that they were thinking it) he'd come home.

**Please tell me what you think!!! I would LOVE it if you went to my profile and voted on my poll, **_**How Many Times Should Harry Go To Hogwarts While in Auror Training?**_** I'd also appreciate it if you'd review!!!! **

**P.S ****Harry's glasses in this chapter can be found at this website: .com/eyeglasses/3/mens-frames/ray-ban/rx5069 and Joey's ringtone is About The South by Rodney Atkins **

**P.P.S I've gotten some beta offers but I'm not sure what they do, so if someone will PM me and let me know, I might be looking for a beta! **


	22. Break Away

_**Break Away**_

**Disclaimer: if I was JKR I'd publish this for a yacht load of money, and then give it a charity. As I'm currently in debt, I think that proves who I am or, rather, who I'm **_**not**_**.**

**Apprécier (Enjoy in French)**

**POV: Harry & his Auror team (it switches)**

The team woke early the next morning and hurried to the kitchens (Ginny and Neville had shown them the day before) where they grabbed some food and hurried back to the Defense classroom. If they were surprised to see Ginny, Neville, Hermione, a blonde girl and a handful of others sitting there, none of them showed it. Instead Joey put the helmet thing back on and took his seat like he had yesterday. Then they waited, it seemed that despite that Harry's captor said that they'd be back around nine, Joey found Bob and Phil about to go in Harry's cell around ten thirty.

"Good morning George." Phil smiled as he entered the cell.

"It's _King_ George. King George the third." Harry muttered as he looked up. Phil and Bob took a step back shocked: the left side of Harry's face was swollen beyond belief. It was a wonder that he could talk without suffering extreme pain. His hair had also grown back. It was almost exactly the same length as it was before Phil had cut it.

"Sorry." Phil rolled his eyes, "Good morning _King_ George."

"So. I'm starving. When's breakfast?" Harry asked, looking at his captors expectantly.

"Now if you like." Bob said as Phil set down the tray he was carrying. Harry attempted to turn his chair to face the table (someone had rebound his hands during the night). He waited while Bob released his hands from their ropes before picking up a spoon and beginning to devour his food.

"Hey Joe." Rolf said as Harry buttered his toast while chewing eggs.

"Yeah?" Joey responded absently.

"Can hear what that Bob fellow is thinking?" he asked.

"Yeah…come to think of it…I can make it so you can hear to if you want…?" Joey replied.

"Yeah, go for it!" Mitch exclaimed. Joey reached up to one of the knobs on top of the helmet and twisted it.

"—Little prat. Thinks he can just waltz in here, get captured and order us around like house elves." Came Bob's voice, only his mouth wasn't moving—they were listening to Bob's thoughts, and "Just who the hell does he think he is? Harry Potter?" the group watching snickered at the irony before them.

"Slow down; you'll make yourself sick if you keep eating like that!" Phil exclaimed, bringing Bob out of his reverie.

"I always eat like this." Harry protested, but slowed down—barely.

"Now." Bob began once Harry was finished. Bob was now playing with a large stake knife, "you will tell me what your name is or I cut off a hand." Ignoring Phil's cries of protest and looks of horror, Bob grabbed Harry's right hand and held the knife over it. Although the people in the Defense room knew it was simply a scare tactic, it did not diminish the fright each of them felt at the prospect of one of Harry's extremities being cut off. Bob raised the knife higher and made as if to bring it down and cut off the hand.

"Bob! What the hell do you think you're doing?" A new voice from the door demanded. A tall, blonde man stood in the doorway. His hair fell in casual disarray around his eyes so he twitched his head to one side to get it out if his line of vision, it promptly fell back into place as he was shaking with rage.

"So sorry boss I was trying to get his name." Bob straighten up, thinking "oh-no. this isn't going to end well for me." Phil quickly rebound Harry and set the other chair about two or three feet in front of him. The man stepped out of doorway to make space for Bob and Phil to exit, carrying the breakfast tray. Joey quickly switched to Harry's mind, turning off the ability to hear his thoughts; there were some boundaries that should never be crossed.

"So sorry about that." The man closed the door and sat down, "he goes a little overboard sometimes. Gets carried away in his work."

"Who doesn't?" Harry smiled weakly, "I'd shake your hand but—"

"Your hands are tied." The man nodded, "I understand, but it is protocol, although you'd assume that I could do whatever I wanted as I'm the boss."

"Right so what brings you here? Surely you don't meet all the prisoners." Harry asked.

"Well we don't have to many. Its just Brian, Maggie and you right now." The man explained, "I'm Gary by the way. I'd like to know your name. Just your first name: I find that surnames are to invasive."

"I'm Henry." Harry said.

"Good, good. None of that 'King George' business." Gary smiled at him, "although, I will admit that the 'James Bond' thing was quite amusing."

"Thank you." Harry grinned, "I take great pride in my work."

"Clearly. And as a token of my appreciation that you are cooperating, would you like to meet the other prisoners? We find it helps loosen the tongue before an interrogation." Gary asked, looking at Harry expectantly.

"Am I going to be interrogated?" Harry asked.

"No, no but I should warn you that your food was spiked with veritaserum." Gary leaned back in his chair, as if telling Harry to try and figure a way out of that problem.

"I know. I'm an Auror, we're trained to know when we're being drugged." Harry smiled at Gary.

"Well would you like to meet the other prisoners?" Gary asked, brushing it off as if it was merely a minor detail.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Alright, be right back." Gary stood, conjured a chair and set it so it was facing the wall to Harry's right then left. He returned a few minutes later with a person with their head covered by a black cloth sack. Gary sat them in the newly conjured chair, made sure their hands were bound behind the chair and removed the bag. Brian had the haircut that Phil had given to Harry the day previously. His face was covered in bruises and cuts. It seemed that he had been somewhat handsome once but being held prisoner had ruined any chance he had left.

"This is Brian. Brian, this is Henry." Gary introduced them like someone introducing a new friend to an old friend.

"Great to meet you Brian." Harry smiled. Brian nodded in response.

"Alright, so you two get to know each other and I'll go get Maggie." Gary turned and left.

"So do you come here often?" Brian asked Harry, smiling.

"No. This is my first time here…I think. But my head's killing me, so I cant think straight." Harry laughed, and then asked, "So have you met Maggie before?"

"Yeah, just a few times. She's alright but she never shuts up about herself." Brian shook his head. They sat in silence for a few moments before Gary came in with Maggie. He repeated the process he had undergone with Brian, only this time in the chair that he himself had recently vacated.

"Alright so once I take the bag off, I'll leave you lot to talk amongst yourselves." Gary said, before whipping the bag off of Maggie's head. Harry looked at her and felt dread flooding his stomach as Maggie screamed. Gary, who was just about to close the door, rushed back in.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She ignored him.

"Harry!" she nearly shouted.

"Harry?" Gary asked, "I thought you said your name was Henry?"

"It is!" he said quickly, "but when I was growing up, my hair grew really fast and I got a haircut at least every fortnight. I got the nickname 'Hairy'."

"So it's not h-a-r-r-y, its h-a-i-r-y?" Gary asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah. It wasn't the best name but what can you do?" Harry shrugged.

"So you two know each other?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, we grew up together" Maggie explained, having gotten over her initial shock.

"Okay then. I'm off. Have fun catching up! I'll send someone when it's time for lunch" Gary laughed and left, closing the door.

"Really, Maggie, was it necessary to scream?" Harry demanded angrily.

"Yes it was! I haven't seen you in ages and suddenly, I'm told I have to meet a new prisoner and it's _you_! What else was I suppose to do?" she demanded.

"Waited until he left. Then freak out." Harry said, "do you know how lucky we are that he believed the 'Hairy' thing?" they continued to argue for several minutes while Brian watched with an expression of amused interest, until Maggie started ranting at him.

"Wait, so they know each other?" Lavender asked, looking extremely confused.

"Yeah, apparently they have for a while." Neville said

"Ask him who she is." TJ said.

"How?" Joey asked.

"Can't you talk to him? Through that little microphone on the side there?" he asked.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" Joey attempted to find the little microphone and after a minute or so searching, he located it. He brought it down to his mouth level and turned it on. He turned the helmet on so that they could hear the thoughts Harry directed at them, once he knew that they were listening.

"Boss?" he said into the mouthpiece, "Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you." Harry replied, through thought, "blimey I'd forgotten how much she talks."

"Most girls do tend to talk a lot." Joey agreed, "So how do you know her?"

"It is a very long, complicated and painful story that I'd rather not talk about." He told them before cutting Maggie off by saying, "do you know who Voldemort is?"

"Yes. Who doesn't know who You-Know-Who is?" she asked.

"I just wanted to know if you were a wizard or not." Harry defended himself.

"Well I am a witch." She said angrily, "after Mum and I moved to France, I went to my final year of primary school before getting a letter to go to Beauxbaton and I was so excited. So Mum and I got all my school supplies and a few other books and I started reading them and then, in a book about modern magical name, who do I come across but the little boy who my brother used to torment on a regular basis." She stopped clearly waiting for him to respond.

"And now you know how I know her." Harry told the shocked group in the DADA classroom, and then to Maggie, "So how is Piers?"

"He's fine. He got out of jail a few months ago" she began

"Shocker" Harry told the group listening in.

"And he got married a few weeks later." She ended.

"Wow, Piers got married…was she pregnant?" Harry asked.

"Boss, don't you think that's a bit mean?" Joey asked him. Harry quickly gave them the image of a scrawny, rat-faced boy setting insects on fire, "ok then. You're right. It is a bit of a surprise."

"Midget, that was rude and uncalled for. Yes she was, but they were getting married anyway" Maggie berated him.

"First off, I'm taller than you are now. And second, uncalled for like the time he and Dudley shaved my head, leaving my bangs?" Harry shot back.

"Point taken. But in their defense I must say that they only left the bangs to—" she said but Harry cut her off

"Hide my horrible scar?" he said, she nodded and he continued, "Well, this 'horrible scar' has help saved more people than I'd care to admit."

"Why? Because you're the reason they were in trouble in the first place?" she asked him.

"And how would you know that?" Harry demanded.

"Because some things ever change. You always have been and always will be the cause of whatever trouble is going on around you." She smirked.

"So wait a moment…" Brian interrupted their conversation, a look of dawning realization spreading across his face, "you're _Harry Potter_?"

Harry nodded before resuming his conversation with Maggie, "I wasn't the cause. Voldemort was the cause. I was the person who had to step in and clean up his mess."

"That always seems to be your job, huh?" Maggie smiled, "you had to clean your house growing up and now you have to clean up the world."

"Yeah. Seems to be my destiny." He chuckled without humor.

"So how've you been?" Maggie asked as if they were not currently tied, bound and in desperate need of a healer.

"Fine. Same old same old." Harry attempted to shrug, but was restricted by his bound hands.

"Really? So no friends?" she pressed.

"I've got friends. Great friends. And a girlfriend." He replied looking around the room, just for something to do.

"I knew it. Let me guess: you made your first friend almost instantly, once you got to Hogwarts?" she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. On the train." He nodded.

"Right so…since he, I'm guessing it's a he, was your first friend you would go to the ends of the earth for him, or his family." She continued.

"I already have. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat." The Auror team and some of the students in the classroom watched a surge of memories come from Harry- ranging from sitting on the train, talking to Ron, to killing a giant snake with a sword, to seeing a man, who the students recognized as Ginny's father, getting attacked by a snake then Harry getting killed in the Forbidden Forrest.

"Aww how sweet." Maggie spat. "So you have a girlfriend? What girl in her right mind would go our with you?"

"You're clearly forgetting that I'm rich and famous." Harry pointed out, ignoring the twinge of annoyance he felt towards her.

"Yeah, and that he's quite good-looking." Brain said. Harry and Maggie stared at him, incredulous.

"Well, that's what my wife says. Says that if you were five years older, she'd be all over you." Brian shifted uncomfortably.

"Charming." Maggie grimaced.

"And you say _I'm_ the rude one. I'm sure she's quite lovely, Brian." Harry rolled his eyes at Maggie.

"No…not really." Brian said, "It was an arranged marriage," he added when Maggie looked outraged (this did not appease her).

"I didn't know that wizards had arranged marriages." Harry frowned.

"Most don't but my dad lost a bet with his best mate so I had to marry his daughter." Brian explained.

"So Harry, you wont believe what I've been up to." Maggie began after a momentary pause. She started talking at high speed about her education in France and all of her friends there. She went on and on about her family and what she'd done since they last saw each other.

"Mate, Brian was right: she really can talk" Joey told Harry five minutes in. She had yet to take a breath.

"For her, this is nothing." Harry told him, only half listening to what Maggie was saying.

"So what's the story with you two anyway?" he asked his boss.

"I've told you: we grew up together." Harry sighed inwardly.

"Well we know that but what's the full story?" TJ called, loud enough so Harry heard through the voice piece.

"Her younger brother Piers was in my cousin Dudley's gang." Harry began slowly, choosing his words carefully, "Piers was his right hand man. He was the one who held your arms behind your back while Dudley hit you. I was an orphan and an easy target, so I was the one that got beaten up most. No one messed with Maggie unless you wanted the entire gang to beat you unconscious. She used to tell Piers that I made fun of her and he 'rallied the troops' so to speak and they did exactly what they threatened—if they could catch me. When I was about to turn ten and she was ten, she and her mum moved to France after her parents got a divorce and I haven't seen her since." Harry paused as Maggie looked at Harry.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked.

"You've already asked me that." Harry pointed out.

"Yes, but this time I want an answer, not a 'same old same old' bull answer." She clarified, "I used to be able to predict what you'd do. I knew everything about you. Now I don't. I want to know a bit about you. Just like old times"

"Well I really can't think of anything you'd care to know." Harry told her.

"Tell me about your friends." She suggested, "and your girlfriend."

"What do you want to know about them?" Harry asked.

"Names. And how you met them or something about them." She said.

"Fine. My best mate since I was eleven is Ron. Then there's Hermione." Harry began, talking quickly to get it over with, "Ron and I saved her from a troll in our first year and we've been friends ever since. My dorm mates: Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ron. I've stayed with Ron's family over the summer many times. There's his parents: Molly and Arthur Weasley, and his older brothers: Bill got married last year, Charlie works with dragons in Romania, Percy works for the Ministry, Fred was killed in the final battle but he and his twin, George ran a joke shop in Diagon Alley where George and Ron now work. Then Ron's younger sister: Ginny. That's some of them. I could be here for days."

"What about your girlfriend?" Brian asked. It seemed that he had no problem staying out of the conversation as long as he got to ask a question every now and then.

"Again: I could be here for days." Harry laughed. He heard the girls in the DADA room 'aww' but chose to ignore it.

"Well, you didn't say anything about Ginny." Maggie pointed out.

"Let me see…she's the only girl of seven kids. She plays Quidditch and has a Bat-Bogey Hex that could kill." Harry rattled off.

"Sounds like you're in love with her." Maggie smiled.

"That's bad." Brian said, "It's never wise to be involved with your best friend's little sister. It's against the rules"

"So I've been told," Harry replied slowly.

"Well, you've never been a big rule follower, have you Harry?" Maggie gave him a knowing look.

"How often do you see your dad?" Harry said in order to change the subject.

"Not very often. The judge decided that since he used to drink, which lead him to hit me that he couldn't be trusted with me. Only Piers." She sighed, "So Harry, when was the last time your uncle hit you?"

"I dunno. I was fifteen, maybe sixteen. He tried to strangle me." He shrugged, again ignoring the cries of shock and indignation he heard coming from the Defense classroom.

"So you win 'worst home life' again." She smiled sadly.

"Yeah…but that was blood relatives. My surrogate family is much better." Harry matched her smile.

"Tell me about them." For the first time she seemed genuinely interested, not just wanting to see who won whatever game she decided to play.

"I already have. The Weasleys." He added when she looked confused, "I met them when I was trying to get to the train to Hogwarts."

"Ahh. So let me guess" she started, "you couldn't figure out how to get to the train so you asked someone who worked there and they thought you were crazy and wasting their time, so when you heard someone say something like 'Hogwarts' or 'muggles' you asked them for help."

"That about sums it up." Harry nodded, the memory filling his mind involuntarily, "Joey. Stay out of there." Harry warned his partner, " you're not going to like what you find and there will not be a happy ending."

"Fine but someone told me to. She said she wanted to know what you were talking about." Joey replied.

"Who was it?" Harry asked.

"A red-head named G—"

"Ginny" Harry cut Joey off, "since when do you take orders, Joe?"

"Since the girl giving the orders is hot." Joey replied.

"Watch it." Harry growled, "She's got five brothers and a boyfriend"

"Yeah, I've heard he's quite over-protective." Joey laughed.

"And from what I've heard, apparently he's a big bloke" Harry chuckled inwardly.

"So anyway Harry, what are you doing here? You don't seem they type to get caught." Maggie had been talking the whole time about _her_ schooling experience.

"You'd be surprised, but no this wasn't an accident." Harry replied.

"So you still haven answered my question" Maggie pointed out.

"I'm an Auror. My job is to keep people from getting killed and I found out that there were people being held against their will so I contacted my boss. He told me to come up with a plan and save you and not get myself killed." Harry explained.

"You're an Auror?" Brian sounded impressed when Harry nodded.

"Looks like they'll let anyone join nowadays." Maggie muttered, just loud enough for Harry to hear, "so what happened to your dream of becoming an airplane pilot?"

"I became a wizard. People started trying to kill me so I started living up to my full potential." He responded then added in response to Brian's quirked eyebrow, "fighting the Dark Arts."

"Ahh yes, the saving people thing." Maggie nodded wisely.

"I do not have a 'saving people thing'!" Harry protested.

"Face it, Shorty, you do." She smirked.

"I am not short! I'm 6'4 and you're what? 5'3?" He exclaimed.

"I'm 5'5 thank you very much." Maggie sniffed.

"Oh big difference!" Harry rolled his eyes

"Its two inches. It's a huge difference!" Defended Maggie.

"Yeah right." Harry glared at her.

"I'll prove it! How tall is your girlfriend?" she asked.

"What?" Harry blanched, trying to by some time.

"How tall is your girlfriend?" she asked slowly, enunciating every word.

"About 5'6. Why?" he asked.

"Because if she finds out you said 5'6 and she's not, then you will know how big of a difference it is." Maggie grinned.

"Damn." Harry muttered, almost forgetting that his team and some friends could hear him, "I hate it when she's right…" just then the door opened and in walked Bob and Phil, who was carrying a tray of food.

"Hello all." Phil gave them a cold smile and set the tray down, "lunchtime."

"Yeah then we give Henry another haircut." Bob said, freeing Harry of his bonds, then doing the same to Brian. Harry moved his chair so he was sitting at the table and started eating. Brian and Maggie soon followed.

"Henry, you look like that Potter kid." Bob said after a few minutes of eating grilled chicken and green beans in silence.

"So I've been told, but I swear I'm not him." Harry took a drink, silently praying that they'd buy it.

"Yeah, I believe you, but Phil don't." Bob said, crossing his arms, "would you mind lifting your bangs, just to show 'im that you're not Potter?"

"No problem" he said. He lifted his bangs, feeling as he did so that the scar was not there.

"Ahh, ya see, Phil? He is who he says he is." Bob smiled a cold-hearted smile, "alright. Eatin' times up." He bound all of them again while Phil cleaned up the lunch with a wave of his wand.

"I'll be back in a mo to give you your haircut Henry." Phil said as Bob closed the door.

"Ok so it's breakout time." Harry shifted against his restraints.

"If you say so, Oh Short One. But I've been here for _weeks_; breaking out is damn near impossible." Maggie said.

"I've been in worse situations and gotten out before." Harry chuckled, "all you two need to do is follow my lead and not scream and/or yell. Got it?" they nodded as Phil came back in the room carrying his cutting supplies. After he closed the door, he set them on the table and turned to face Harry.

"Before you do anything, I want to say something." Harry said, "First, my name isn't Henry, it's Harry. Harry Potter and second, I want you to know that I'm really, really sorry about this."

"Wha—" Phil could not finish the rest of his sentence because Harry had stood up and swung around. The legs of the chair that Harry was tied to his Phil in the ribs and he flew into the wall. He slid down and did not move again.

"Harry what did you just do?!" Maggie shrieked.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" Harry barked, pulling a knife out of his sleeve. He slipped it in right before Bob tied him up after lunch. He sat his chair back down and started working at the ropes. After a few minutes of work, he broke free. It seemed that Bob had forgotten to set the enchantments on the ropes, which made them that much easier to break. He moved on and cut Brian free. He was halfway done when Bob walked in, holding not only his wand, but also a gun.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bob demanded pointing the gun at Harry.

"Breaking out." Harry said, feeling the truth might help in the long run.

"Well I can see that." He said, leveling the gun.

"That's a nice gun you have there." Harry said, trying out a technique that they had learned in training. The goal was to distract the target long enough to get the object of interest away from them. Bob grunted in response.

"It's a Glock right? Very nice, very powerful." Harry stood up slowly, his hands raised to shoulder height.

"Yeah, its also very _deadly_." Bob spat as Harry slowly inched forward. Then, several things happened at once. The door burst open for the second time and Fallon rushed in. Bob turned to face this new attacker and accidently fired two shots form the gun and a yellow curse from his wand. The Defense room screamed as one bullet lodged itself in Harry's left shoulder and the other in his right knee. The curse hit Brian in the chest and he slumped over, much like Phil had once he hit the wall. Fallon hit Bob with a silent stunner and he flew back and landed, spread eagled on the floor.

"Always nice to see you, Fallon." Harry said attempting to walk forward.

"Harry! Are you alright?" Fallon rushed over and caught him as he slipped in the small pool of blood forming at his feet.

"'M fine." He mumbled, "Finish freeing Brian and Maggie then we can go."

"Alright just a sec." Fallon pointed his wand at each of the ropes in turn and their arms fell free. Maggie jumped up and helped Fallon support Harry.

"Get Brian. Maggs can help me. Lets get out of here." Harry said, "Wait a moment! Our wands."

"Here" Fallon reached into his pocket and withdrew three wands. Harry and Maggie took theirs and he put the third back into his pocket. The group made their way through the dimly lit corridors and retraced Fallon's steps out of the warehouse, stunning anyone who so much as glanced at them. They reached the perimeter and DissApperated to Saint Mungo's, but not before Harry sent a weak message to Joey to get out of his head and stay out. He also said that he would be at Hogwarts by Monday.

"Well that's not very good." Julia said.

"He got shot! How is that good in any way?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well at least he's out and alive." TJ intervened. They argued a bit more but quickly broke up and went their separate ways—the students going to do homework and enjoy their Saturday and the Aurors calling in to Jim and tell him what happened.

Early Sunday, they again met up in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room and attempted to find Harry, but to no avail. They did however find out that Bob and Phil were being punished severely for letting all three hostages escape, not to mention that one of them was Harry Potter. Joey kept searching, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, the blonde girl, and a few others waited with him and the other Aurors while he searched. It was lunchtime when they found them. Harry and Fallon busted into the classroom. They looked the same, except that Harry's wounds had been wrapped in a crude gauze job.

"Harry!" Ginny and Hermione shrieked and threw themselves at him.

"Hey guys." He said weakly.

"Be careful. He refused to let the healers help him, he said that he'd get help here." Fallon explained. Julia quickly conjured a stretcher and got Harry on it.

"Harry why didn't you let them help you?" Ginny asked softly as they walked to the Hospital Wing.

"Needed to get here. Needed to see you." Harry mumbled, taking her hand. Then the world went dark.

**HAHA!! He made it! I hope… ******** so what'd you think? I know the Maggie thing was random but it becomes a semi-major side plot, so stick with me. Also, if anyone wants to be my beta, drop me a line. If you don't then review and I'll find someone on my own. REVIEW!!! **


	23. Recovery

**Disclaimer: **

**I am not, nor have ever been, J.K. Rowling. **

**So there!**

**Genießen Sie **

**(Enjoy in German)**

**Harry's POV**

Harry became conscious of his surroundings some time later. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious but he did hear worried voices through the pounding in his head. He found the pounding peculiar because he had no memory of hurting his head. The only injuries he remembered obtaining were the bruises to his face and the gunshot wounds in his knee and shoulder.

"What's wrong with him?" a voice asked loudly, "he looks a bit peaky"

"He was just _shot_ Ron, of course he looks peaky!" a different angry voice said just as loudly.

"Ow! My head! Stop shouting!" Harry moaned, sitting up.

"Harry!" about three people exclaimed at once. Harry winced and attempted to grab his head but found his left arm restrained by a sling.

"Shut up! My head's killing me!" Harry reached and got his glasses with his good arm from the bedside table they were on.

"Here. Drink this." A shrill voice came from his left. Madam Pomfrey walked up and handed him a goblet full of orange potion. Harry drank without protest and his headache soon vanished.

"Oh Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking worried.

"Yeah. I'm fine now." He smiled at her.

"Mr. Potter, on the way to the hospital wing, you obtained a massive head injury." Madam Pomfrey explained, "For this reason, I would like to ask you a few questions to make sure your brains are not too addled."

"Alright." He sighed.

"When is your birthday?" she asked.

"I…I'm not sure." Harry said, thinking hard, "it's sometime in July, right?"

"Oh dear." The matron peered at him.

"Well that's not a fair question!" Ron protested, "he wouldn't know that normally! Ask him something else."

"Alright, alright." Madam Pomfrey waved him away with her hand, "Potter, what's your full name?"

"Harry James Potter" he replied.

"Good, good. Now, what is your Hogwarts house?" she asked.

"Gryffendor" he said with out missing a beat.

"Have you ever played Quidditch?"

"Yes, seeker." He said unable to keep the slightly proud note from his voice.

"Alright. It seems as if you are alright—for now." Madam Pomfrey nodded and stood up, "I'll be back in a while to give you more potions." Hermione sat on the other side of Harry's bed and Ron conjured a chair and sat next to Harry's bedside table.

"So what happened?" Harry asked, gesturing to his head.

"One of those buffoon Aurors ran into your stretcher while we were going down stairs and you fell down two flights of stairs." Hermione said angrily.

"Hey, go easy on them. It was their first mission." Harry smiled weakly, "so how did you get here Ron?""

"Well, I was working with George on a new prank in the Burrow's kitchen when a Ministry official knocks and tells the whole family—minus Ginny, Percy and Charlie—that you'd been in a horrible accident and was at Hogwarts getting healed." Ron sighed.

"It wasn't a 'horrible accident'" Harry scowled.

"Harry, you were shot twice." Hermione said, incredulous.

"Fair enough. So how long was I unconscious?" he asked.

"Just a few hours." Ginny said, taking his hand.

"Harry? Why didn't you get help at St. Mungo's?" Ron asked.

"I hate hospitals." Harry shrugged his right shoulder (his left hurt too much to move), "I figured if I was going to be in one for a while, might as well be at Hogwarts." Ron looked ready to ask more questions when Ginny cut him off.

"Mum, Dad, Bill, Fleur, and George are up in McGonagall's office with your Auror team and Kingsley, trying to figure out what happened." She said, "They'll be here in a few minutes."

"So how do you like the Aurors?" Harry asked.

"They're…interesting." Hermione sounded unsure.

"Really?" Ron asked her, "I like them! I think they're great." Hermione muttered something that sounded like "you would."

"I'm reserving judgment" Ginny said, "they seem nice, but they're a little out there."

"You have no idea." Harry chuckled, "Joey and Julia are always arguing. They remind me a bit of Ron and Hermione, actually…" as if on queue, the Weasleys and Harry's Auror team, along with Kingley and McGonagall, walked through the door.

"Ahh, good. You're awake." The headmistress said, "So maybe you can shed some light on what happened on your mission."

"Sure. What do you need to know?" he asked.

"Told you he'd help." Joey interjected.

"Shut up, Joe." Mitch rolled his eyes, "No one doubted that he would."

"Anyway" Kingsley began, ignoring the exchange, "how did you manage to know they were holding hostages?"

"It was my watch—" He began.

"It was my watch too!" Joey interrupted.

"Joey! Shut up!" Julia slapped him on the arm, "If you say one more thing, you're leaving."

"Fine." Joey crossed his arms and sat down on the bed to the left of Harry's, scowling.

"So as I was saying, it was Joey and me on watch. The warehouse that we were staking out had gotten several deliveries in the past few days. It was always stuff like food or clothes—stuff like that."

"How did you know that it was food and clothes?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I invaded their minds." He explained, "Wasn't too hard; they didn't have very strong defenses. One of the guys was unloading some rope and cloth sacks and gags. He was thinking about how they were in need of this shipment because they were running low for the captives. Naturally, I deduced that there must be hostages."

"Naturally." McGonagall said in a bemused voice. Harry was surprised to see a twinkle in his old teacher's eye.

"Right. So Harry, how did you get captured?" Kingsley asked.

"I knocked on the front door and said I was in trouble. I asked if anyone there could help me." Harry shrugged, "they asked me to come in then they hit me to knock me out. Next thing I know, I'm tied to a chair."

"Sounds like a good plan." Bill said sarcastically.

"It was actually. And what's more surprising is that I _had_ a plan." Harry smiled, then turned back to Kingsley and asked, "anything else? I'm hungry."

"No. If there's anything else, I'll owl you or ask Fallon." Kingsley replied. He and Professor McGonagall said their good-byes and exited the hospital.

"Alright Harry. I'll go to the kitchen and grab some food." Joey stood and slapped Harry on his bad shoulder.

"AAHH!!" Harry cried in pain, clutching his throbbing shoulder.

"Oh Harry! I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't mean to—" Joey trailed off as Madam Pomfrey.

"You best be off." She told Joey sternly, "go and fetch him some food, without hurting anyone." Joey obliged and hurried out of the hospital wing, still ghostly pale.

"Drink this." The matron handed Harry a glass of pale blue liquid. He drank it and the pain subsided slightly.

"It will take a few minutes for the pain to fully disappear." Madam Pomfrey said.

"Alright." He replied.

"While you were a hostage, they didn't feed you any Veritaserum, did they?" she asked.

"Yeah they did but I drank the antidote before I was captured, so I was fine." He replied, confused.

"Oh dear…" the matron sighed.

"What?" Ginny asked at the same time Harry asked "Is something wrong?"

"Well, the pain potion counteracts the Veritaserum antidote. Any Veritaserum in your system right now will work." She explained.

"Which means…?"TJ asked.

"Harry's under the effects of Veritaserum. Whatever we ask, he has to answer truthfully." Rolf said.

"Fantastic." Harry groaned, "Don't ask anything you don't want an answer to."

"This could be fun." George commented, grinning ear to where his ear should be.

"George." Mrs. Weasley said threateningly.

"Relax Mum, I wont ask him anything too horrible."

"George, I'm not sure you know where that line is drawn." She replied, giving him a stern look.

"Fine. I wont ask him anything." George conceded, but there was still a mischievous glint in his eye. Just then, Joey walked in, a tray laden with food suspended in front of him.

"Here we go." He said as he lowered it on to Harry's lap. On it was a hamburger and French fries.

"Thanks" Harry said, picking up the hamburger and taking a huge bite of it.

"Joey, Harry's on the effects of Veritaserum." TJ told him, "So no asking Boss questions that you don't want answers to."

"Got it." Joey nodded, stealing one of Harry's fries.

"Honestly Harry, How can you eat that?" Julia asked him, looking disgusted as he took another large bite.

"I'm hungry and I've just been shot." Harry shrugged, "What I'm eating isn't a big priority right now, as long as I have food."

Soon Harry finished eating and his team went to their rooms to work on the paperwork from their last mission. Harry stayed in the hospital wing, as instructed by Madam Pomfrey. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone home, along with Bill and Fleur, who was starting to look pregnant. Only Ron and George stayed, along with Ginny and Hermione.

"So how's training Harry?" George asked in a lull in the conversation.

"Fine." Harry sighed, leaning against his propped-up pillows and wrapping his arms around Ginny's waist, "I'm head of a team and they call me 'boss' a lot so that's weird."

"I noticed." Ginny leaned against his chest, "I thought it was strange how you didn't seem bothered by it."

"I've gotten used to it." He smiled and kissed the top of her head, breathing in the flowery sent of her hair.

"Alright, I'm going home." George announced, standing up.

"I'll come too." Ron stood also.

"I'll walk you out." Hermione took Ron's hand and the three of them walked out of the hospital wing.

"I missed you, Harry." Ginny whispered as Ron, Hermione and George's footsteps died away.

"I missed you too, Gin." Harry said, "more than you know."

"Is that the Veritaserum talking or have you gotten more sensitive while you've been away?" she laughed silently.

"Maybe a bit of both." He laughed too.

"I have to go to class tomorrow so I should leave soon." Ginny sighed after a few moments of blissful silence.

"Then you should probably go while I still have control over my arms" he gave her a quick squeeze to emphasize his point and released her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a kiss and stood up, "I love you."

"I love you too." Harry smiled as she walked away before turning the lamp beside him out and drifting into a deep sleep.

Harry woke up the next morning to find a tray filled with breakfast foods on his bedside table. He sat up and started eating it and was half way done when Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office.

"Good you're awake." She said, handing him a pain potion, "I will check over your injuries then you may go to your classes. But please try to walk as little as possible today Mr. Potter."

"Of course." He said. Once she deemed him fit, she conjured a wooden cane to help him walk and assisted him to stand up.

"Here are some clothes of yours that Ms. Holeburg gave me." She said handing him a shirt and a pair of trousers.

"Who?" he asked confused. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Your team healer." She replied, then shooed him off to change. He walked out as best he could, putting as little weight on his right knee as possible.

"Alright, you are permitted to leave as long as you don't go anywhere without someone. Understood?" she ordered. He nodded and made his way out of the hospital wing. It took him longer than usual to get up to the Defense classroom. He wasn't sure when his first class was but he knew he at least needed to be in the class.

"Here he is!" Joey exclaimed as Harry walked into the Defense room a few minutes later. Harry was surprised to see he wasn't late for class; in fact it was just the opposite. He was quite early.

"We don't start for another quarter of an hour." Julia seemed to read his mind, "Our first class is the fifth years. Then double seventh years."

"What do you mean 'our'?" Joey asked, "Harry was the one asked to come. We just came along for the ride."

"Yeah, Joe, but I'm not allowed to be alone." Harry explained, "I have to have someone around at all times incase my injuries get worse."

"Good thing we have a healer then." Rolf mused.

"Absolutely." Harry laughed, sitting at the desk, "Mitch, you can go home if you want. I know that was your original plan, same with the rest of you."

"Thanks boss." Mitch smiled, "I'll leave after class today, just to make sure that I'm not needed."

"I'm just going for the day tomorrow." Joey explained.

"Alright. So what have we taught the fifth years?" Harry asked.

"We told them what it was like being an Auror." TJ said. It was true; the only year that the Auror team felt comfortable showing what Harry was up against was the seventh years. Every other year had been able to ask questions about being an Auror. They were also shown a few tricks and spells that might come in handy.

"So lets come up with a lesson plan." Harry leaned back in his chair. The team spent the rest of the time before class discussing what they would cover in their classes that day.

"Good morning!" Harry silenced the class of fifth years, "You know who I am, so I'm not going to introduce myself. Today we are going to be working on shield charms. I know you probably already know how to do them, but it never hurts to practice." The class split into pairs and began practicing the charm. Harry and his team decided not to take or answer any questions about Harry's injuries or his whereabouts the past few days. And, Harry had pointed out; there was a good chance that the whole school already knew. News seemed to travel unusually fast at Hogwarts if it was about him.

Harry stopped the class ten minutes before the bell rang to allow the class to take a breather and pack up. He also asked them to practice the shield charm at least once before their next class.

"Class dismissed!" he called as the bell rang. Dennis Creevey walked up to Harry as the rest of the class filed out.

"Hey Harry, got a sec?" he asked.

"Of course. What do you need?" Harry asked, thinking it had to be something about Collin, the older brother Dennis had lost in the final battle. Whatever it was, Harry decided, he wanted to help.

"I just wanted to ask what happened." He gestured to the sling and cane. Harry sighed and decided that the truth was the best route; he couldn't lie to someone whose brother had been killed because of him.

"I was held prisoner and upon being rescued, one of the goons guarding me accidently shot me." Harry's Aurors had started letting in the seventh years, who were now listening to Harry intently.

"Ouch…what kind of gun was it?" Dennis asked. Harry paused, unsure if he should answer, then remembered that Dennis was a muggle-born and probably knew more about guns than he did.

"A Glock." He sighed, his shoulder was beginning to twinge and Dennis needed to get to his next class.

"Do you know what type?"

"Well, it definitely wasn't a compact or sub-compact." Harry tried to laugh, but his shoulder was hurting to badly, "you need to get to class, Dennis."

"Yeah…I suppose you're right…" Dennis didn't move. He just stared out of the window absently.

"I'll write you a pass." Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled a note, explaining that Dennis was late due to a query of the correct way to produce a shield charm.

"There you go. Written in black and white." Harry handed him the note, which Dennis read.

"You know you don't have to give an explanation to why I'm late, right?" he smiled.

"Ah well, I'm not a teacher. But if I was, that's how I would write a late pass. Now get to class," Harry forced a smile through the pain in his shoulder and his knee.

"Harry, one more question." Dennis said, half way to the door.

"Make it quick; I've got a class to teach." Harry did his best to sound stern.

"Did you get offered the DADA post?" he asked. Harry was just about to respond when the door flew open. John walked in.  
"Hello all!" the newcomer said cheerily.

"Dennis, go to class; I'll answer your question later." Harry said, "Why are you here, John?"

"What? I just can't stop by to say hi? To thank you for getting one of my Aurors involved in your pointless little rescue mission?" John crossed his arms.

"It was Jim who decided that Fallon needed to be the one to come in. I was the one with the dangerous job." Harry leaned against the desk, gritting his teeth against the white-hot pain in his shoulder and knee.

"You could have requested someone else! He didn't have to do it!" John nearly yelled, "Anyway, because you made him go, you will pay."

"I didn't _make_ him do anything!" Harry's temper was rising, "and what do you mean, 'you will pay'? What makes you able to seek revenge on me, for something I had no control over?"

"Now there's the catch…_I_ do have control over it." John smirked, "I got a promotion. I'm now the second in command of assignments. That means that I can decide if you're one step above an MLE agent or if you're worthy of the big time, dangerous stuff."

"So what's happening to your team?" Harry asked, sinking down a bit, unable to stand properly because of the pain in his leg.

"Fallon's taking over. He's a good Auror, when he's not taking orders from you." John glared at Harry.

"Harry, are you alright?" Joey asked, helping Harry stand up.

"No." he grimaced, "my shoulder and leg are killing me."

"Here, drink this." Julia handed him a pain potion. He downed it in one. The pain dulled and after a few moments, vanished.

"Thanks. That feels loads better." Joey relinquished his grasp on Harry who again leaned against the teacher's desk.

"You know you deserved that." John interrupted a momentary silence.

"I deserved getting shot?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. Its what you get for endangering my team." John puffed out his chest slightly.

"You mean your old team." TJ said, "you got promoted; they're not yours to command anymore."

"I still trained them. I still made them who they are today." John was grasping at straws now and everyone knew it—including him, "I'll be back when I have your next mission. And let me say that it will not be a good one." He smirked one last time, and then turned and left in what he evidently thought was a very dramatic exit. Joey made a rude hand gesture to John's retreating figure.  
"Joey! We're in a school! With a class!" Julia reprimanded him.

"He deserved it." Was Joey's only defense.

"Alright, so now that we've wasted a good ten minutes of class, maybe we can begin." Harry cut Julia off from making an angry retort, giving a stern look.

"Fine." She said curtly sitting down by a window.

"Harry, we don't have a plan for this class." Rolf reminded him.

"I know, I know." He said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Rolf, our plan was to wing it." Joey grinned, "I think we should tell 'em what it's like to be an Auror."

"What do you want to spend this double class period doing?" Harry directed his question at the strangely silent class. Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Yes, the pretty girl with her hand up." Joey said politely.

"Watch it, Joey." Julia warned.

"Why? I didn't say anything obnoxiously rude!" Joey said, clearly confused.

"Mate," Mitch said quietly, "that's Hermione Granger."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Joey paled, and then turning to Hermione he said, "I apologize. That was rude and uncalled for. Please don't kill me.''

"She won't kill you, Joe." Harry sighed, "she was in the hospital wing yesterday, how did you not see her?"

"I was more concerned with whether or not you were going to be alright." Joey said.

"Ok. Fine. That's understandable." Harry said exasperatedly, "Go on Hermione."

"Harry, what did you tell them about me?" Hermione asked, obviously confused and a little worried.

"Nothing bad, but they've seen some memories and reached their own conclusions." Harry defended.

"Yeah, you're awesome but terrifying. I saw one memory when you punched this guy so fast he didn't have a chance! And you were like, thirteen!" Joey exclaimed, "It was a really good punch too!"

"Anyway" Harry glared at Joey, "what was your idea, Hermione?"

"Oh, well you could tell us about what type of spells you've found come in handy while fighting the Dark Arts." Hermione suggested weakly.

"Good, well—" Harry began but was cut off as the door flew open. A tall blonde man rushed in and quickly glanced around the room. Once he saw Julia, he rushed to her and gave her a rib-breaking hug.

"I was so worried" he cried, "I heard someone on your team was blown up and rushed right over!"

"No, it wasn't me. I'm fine." Julia smiled at him, breaking the hug.

"And I wasn't blown up." Harry said, irritably, "I was shot, twice, at close range."

"Oh…sorry…my friend must have been exaggerating." The man said, turning to Harry.

"Guys, this is Luke…my boyfriend." Julia said, introducing the man. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Joey stiffened—almost unnoticeably, but it was still there.

"Yup. The one and only." Luke grinned and, extending a hand to Harry, said, "You must be Harry Potter."

"Nothing gets by you." Harry shook Luke's hand.

"So who are the rest of these people?" Luke asked after he let out a booming laugh. Julia introduced them one by one and none of them looked very happy to see Luke.

"Julia, if you want, you can take Luke on a tour of the castle." Harry said, "you two can catch up and I can teach this class."

"Good idea!" Luke grinned and gave Harry a friendly punch on the shoulder—his left shoulder—his injured shoulder.

"OW!!" Harry yelled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Luke apologized.

"Out. Now." Harry ordered through gritted teeth, pointing to the door with his good arm. It was taking all of his self-control not to start swearing and throwing hexes. Julia and Luke quickly hurried out of the door, not looking back.

"Are you sure you're alright, Boss?" Mitch asked.

"I'm fine. If we can just get through the day without killing me or me coming close to death, that'd be great." Harry said. No one argued (they were either all to scared or shocked to), so the class went on. But not before Ginny gave Harry a 'we'll talk about this later or else' look. Harry gave her a slight nod to show that he'd understood and proceeded to begin the class.

**I'm sorry it's taken me forever to update but I've been busy. I also wanted to say that the 'well that's not a fair question. He wouldn't know that normally' thing happened to my brother when he got a head injury. Let me know what you think! Please review!! **

**P.S. I have decided that I will only update on weekends because that's when I get the most responses. **

**P.P.S I also want to say that one of the reasons I'm updating this today is that today's my birthday, so please review…. if you cant think of anything to say, tell me your favorite vegetable (mine's asparagus 'cause it's fun to say) or your favorite ice cream (chocolate chip cookie dough). **

**P.P.P.S I also want to thank my new and awesome beta ****GryffindorGirl2154!! Whoohoo! Please review!!**


	24. Arguments

**Disclaimer: **

**If you think, for so much as one second, that I am JKR, there is something SIRIUSly wrong with you. **

**(Hehe…. now I feel lame for laughing at my own joke…)**

**Piacere**

**(Enjoy in Italian)**

**Harry's POV**

"Alright, so any questions?" Harry asked two days later about halfway through the seventh year class. Mitch, Joey, and Scotty had gone home the day before but Joey had returned, saying one could have too much of a good thing. Harry had just finished explaining the Cruciatus curse to the seventh years. He pointed to the one hand that rose—it was one of Ginny's friends but he couldn't recall her name.

"Yeah?" he asked, pointing at her.

She seemed to sense that he couldn't remember her name because she said: "I'm Myra Sunnery, sir and I was wondering how long a person could survive the cures." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Neville stiffen and go pale.

"Well, that depends on the person." Harry replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Yes its quite true." Joey suddenly intervened, "If they're torturing you for information, even the strongest only last a few days. Take Harry for example." Several people in the room suddenly sat up, hoping to hear something that they shouldn't—as Joey had already done with the showing of Harry's captivity, "even he couldn't last forever—eventually, he'd lose his voice from screaming, then, with time, his mind, due to the pain. But most people who are willing to torture don't want to risk permanent injury like insanity because then they've just wasted their time and cant get the info that they so desperately needed."

"Wow, Joey. It looks like you did your reading." T.J said, clearly impressed with him. Joey grinned, smug.

"Right. So if there aren't any more questions, we'll move on to the next—" Harry was again cut off by the door swinging open. For the second time that week, John Corner walked in, but this time, he was carrying a manila folder.

"Call Julia." Harry told Rolf, who nodded and quickly pulled out his Auror phone; Julia was a floor below in the guest rooms with Luke, who had decided to stay.

"Why are you here, John?" Harry asked after a tense few moments. John said nothing; he just stood there, smiling faintly as if pleased with himself.

"What do you need?" Harry could feel his temper rising as Jackass John continued to ignore him.

"For Merlin's sake, John! What the hell do you want?" Harry nearly screamed at him as Julia and Luke walked in, looking shocked at Harry's outburst.

"I _want_ to drag you behind a shed and beat you to a pulp for endangering one of my people," he snarled in response, finally coming out of his silence, "but since I cant do that without some serious punishment for myself later… I'm going to settle for giving you your next assignment." With that, he shoved the folder length-wise into the opening at the top of Harry's sling so that one end was level with Harry's chin. Harry, with a small degree of difficulty, pulled the folder free and opened it:

_**Auror Office of Orders**_

_Head Assigning Agent: Bertram Williamson _

_Junior Assigning Agent: John D. Corner_

_Orders: Recovery & Redemption _

_Case Number: AKXXVW8136_

_To: The Potter Team, AKA: Potter, Harry (Leader); Collins, Joseph, Jr; Scamander, Rudolf; Polker, Scott; Blacken, Timothy James; Gissmills, Mitchell; Holeburg, Julia (Healer)_

_Status Of Team: In Training_

_Hermione J. Granger has requested permission to leave Britten to retrieve her parents (Connor and Jean Granger) who are currently residing in Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia, (Further address of home and work, phone numbers for home, work and personal phones enclosed). Due to the still unstable environment of the wizarding world, muggle-borns leaving the country and returning to said-country with family or friends who fled during the war, all must be escorted to and from their destinations. This is serving both as protection and to show Death Eaters who are not in custody, along with the rest of the world, that the safety of all wizards and their families is extremely important to the Ministry. This mission will begin as soon as possible. Not all members are required to go, but a minimum of three is required._

_Signed, _

_Bertram Williamson_

_John D. Corner_

_Official Copy of Orders_

_Office of Orders, Auror Office_

Harry looked up at John, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Well, this is a bull mission! We're escorting people from Point A to Point B then back to A!" Joey, who had been reading over Harry's shoulder, was furious.

"Shut up Joey, this is a great assignment." Harry grinned as a look of horror spread across John's face. "You see, I know the person involved with this case."

"That's conflict of interest!" John shouted, pointing accusingly at Harry.

"No, you see, for this type of mission…an 'escort mission'…or protection detail as it really is, it's good that I know the person. It gives me, us, more of an incentive to protect and see that no harm comes to the protect-ee." Harry handed the folder to Julia who read it with TJ and Rolf, reading over her shoulder.

"I'll…I'll…change your mission!" John exclaimed, his face turning red.

"You can't do that." Julia said, looking up from reading the orders, "once orders are given, the only one's who can change them are the head of departments or the agent assigned to the case, if they switch off due to conflict of interest."

"I—well—if—AGHH!!!" he spluttered before screaming and storming out of the classroom. Everyone—without exception—burst into laughter at John's tantrum.

"Hey Hermione." Harry called, attempting to control his laughter, "want to go to Australia next week to get your parents?"

"Oh yes please!" Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Next week?" Julia looked puzzled, "Harry. I'm not sure if you'll be able to go."

"Corse I can go! I'm team leader" Harry laughed, "what makes you think I cant?"

"Oh I don't know…maybe the fact that you were shot less than five days ago!"

"I can go to Australia!" Harry said heatedly. This was starting to aggravate him.

"Harry, you cant even walk, how are you supposed to go on a mission on the other side of the world?" Julia asked incredulous.

"Look, I can walk fine." Harry took off the brace and stumbled a few steps before halting and leaning against the desk for support. He spread his arms wide and grinned through the pain.

"See?" he said, "I can walk fine."

"You took about three steps!" TJ exclaimed handing Harry his brace back, "I'm not a healer, but that doesn't look 'fine'."

"I'm going to Australia and that's final." Harry said in his most commanding voice.

Julia studied him for a moment before saying: "you really hate being left behind, don't you?"

Harry didn't answer; too many painful memories were forcing their way into his mind, but not in the way that Occlumency forced them.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but as your healer, you cant go unless I clear you. Right now you're too injured to be of any help." Julia said quietly.

"You calling me useless?" Harry asked thickly, putting the brace back on.

"Of course she's not Harry," Joey intervened, "but Boss, why do you hate being left behind so much?" he asked. Harry didn't answer. Instead, he stormed (as best he could) out of the classroom. He knew it was childish of him but at the moment he didn't care. He wandered the corridors for what seemed like forever before finally ending up on the top of the Astronomy Tower—the very same where Dumbledore had been killed (willingly and knowingly, Harry had to remind himself).

Harry stood, looking over the grounds, thinking. He supposed one of the reasons why he was so aggravated with Julia not letting him go was that it would mean John would win. He didn't think he couldn't stand the sight of John staring smugly at him once he found out that Harry had been banned from going on a mission because of injuries sustained during his first mission—the one that the Jackass was trying to punish him for.

Harry didn't realize how much time had passed until he heard a noise behind him that brought him back to his senses. He turned and saw Ginny standing in the doorway, watching him.

"Hey Ginny." He said quietly. Ginny walked forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly.  
"What was that about Harry?" she asked into his shirt.

"I don't know." He said, burying his face in her hair, "it just brought up a lot of painful childhood memories. It was like the walls were closing in and I had to get out of there." He felt her nod into his chest. They stood quietly for a few moments before he asked, "How did you know I was here?"

"Hermione found the Marurader's Map and used it to find you" she said, "you're whole team wanted to come but Hermione and I convinced them that it would be better if we talked to you first. Hermione's at the bottom of the tower, waiting. She knew I should talk to you first"

"Odd how smart she can be at times, huh?" Harry smiled weakly.

"Yeah, lets go—we don't want to keep her waiting for too long." And with that they went down to meet Hermione. Ginny kept a hand in Harry's, helping steady him as they went down the stairs.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione cried, spotting them and rushing to hug Harry, almost knocking him over, "we were ever so worried. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Hermione. Just needed to get my head on straight." Harry smiled, returning the hug.

"Ginny yelled at you?" Hermione asked, letting go and smiling slightly.

"No, not at all" Harry said.

"I still can, you know, if you need it." Ginny offered.

"I think Julia's going to be covering that front. She doesn't like having someone walk away when she's yelling." Harry shuddered at the idea.

"We'll protect you." Ginny said, taking Harry's hand again.

"Actually, I have to go do some prefect duties, so looks like you're on your own, Ginny. But I have complete faith in you." Hermione looked apologetic.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione." Ginny grinned, "I can take them."

"I've seen them fight." Harry said, "Ginny, you _could _take them."

Hermione laughed as she walked away. Harry and Ginny continued to walk down the corridors to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to see if the team was still there. It was a mark of how strong their relationship was that they didn't have to verbalize the agreement that Harry needed to apologize to his team and that he needed Ginny to help keep him from lashing out again. It was amazing how much she tapered him when he was aggravated about something, he thought as they walked through a secret passage concealed behind a tapestry of a couple of old warlocks playing cards.

As they waked up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts door, Harry took a deep breath then entered. Sure enough, the team (minus Mitch and Scotty) was sitting around the classroom, looking confused—except for Rolf who was sitting on the windowsill and looking vaguely amused. Joey, who was sitting on the teacher's desk, saw Harry first.

"Boss! There you are! You had us worried." He said, standing up. Julia, who had been looking out of a window, her back facing everyone, whipped around.

"Harry! You had us terrified!" she exclaimed, rushing to hug him. For the second time in less than an hour, Harry was almost knocked flat. He put the hand not trapped in his sling on the wall to steady himself as he returned the hug as best he could with the sling.

"Sorry about that. I needed to clear my head." Harry said, by way of explanation, letting go of Julia.

"Yes he did." Ginny said, "And now that he's done that and talked to both me and Hermione, we've all decided that he should go to Australia." Harry did his best to hide his shock. He hadn't even asked her if it was all right if he went…apparently it was.

"Really? And what gives you the authority to decide that?" Julia said rudely.

"I'm a healer in training. I was the one who patched up all the kids here last year who weren't allowed to go to the Hospital Wing. I've probably got more emergency experience than you do" Ginny shot back.

"She's also my girlfriend, Julia. That gives her a hell of a lot more say in my life than you." Harry said. He knew that he had just told T.J and Rolf the identity of his girlfriend but he was so mad at Julia for talking to Ginny like that that, for questioning her authority that he didn't care.

"Good for her. Still doesn't change the fact that you're not going to Australia." Julia said, crossing her arms, daring them to cross her.

Harry dared.

"You need me. You know I'd be useful." He said.

"You can't walk! You'd be useless in Australia!" Julia cried.

"We're there only to keep something bad from happening. Do you really think some Australian Death Eater would try to pull anything if Harry Potter and his Auror tem are there? And anyway, I've fought through worse—much worse" Harry said, remembering the Triwizard Tournament and the Chamber of Secrets, "Anyway, Hermione's like my sister. Imagine if the roles were reversed and someone refused to let one of your brothers go with you to retrieve your parents just because they were injured." He knew she had several brothers who would all go to the ends of the earth for anyone in their family, whether they were injured or not. Most would consider this a low blow, but at the moment, he didn't care: his top priority was going to Australia to protect Hermione and her parents.

"Alright Harry, I'll make you a deal. If you promise to not get hurt while we're there and to not fight, I'll let you go. Deal?" Julia bargained.

"Deal." Harry grinned, glad that the argument was settled and that he had won.

"Now that that's settled," Joey said walking forward, "Hi I'm Joey. We haven't formally met." He extended his arm to shake Ginny's hand.

"Ginny Weasley." She replied shaking his hand.

"Harry's girlfriend." Joey grinned then turned to Harry, "You do realize that you just declared her as your girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah I know." Harry nodded.

"So now it's only Scotty that doesn't know. He's gonna hate that" T.J said, grinning as he walked forward to shake Ginny's hand. Harry introduced Ginny to him, Rolf and Julia. Once that was out of the way, they sat and talked until the dinner bell rang. Ginny left to eat while the team headed to their quarters where they were to eat all of their meals.

Harry lay in bed late that night, pretending to read while actually thinking about how much of a drastic change his life had undergone in the last few months. He had gone from on the run with a price on his head, a target on his back and the weight of the world on his shoulders to being carefree and able to do what ever he wanted when ever he wanted in a matter of days. Slowly, he drifted into a light sleep, dreams going from horrors about the war to a bright future with Ginny, Ron and Hermione.

**I know it's an abrupt ending but I figured you'd rather have and update than a fantastic ending. I'm SO sorry it's taken so long for me to update, but I've been busy and have had writer's block (I know it's my excuse every time but it's true). On the bright side, I've added a new story (Colliding Worlds) and while having an extremely hard time writing this boring chapter, I had a lot of ideas to make future chapters action-packed and AWESOME!! Please review!! And vote on my poll (located on my profile)!!**


	25. Loopholes

**Disclaimer: I don't own even the smallest tiniest littlest bit of Harry Potter.**

**P.S: this chapter is dedicated to FriendofMolly who has not only reviewed almost every chapter, but also PM'd me during my unexpected hiatus and guilt-tripped me into writing. So we both have her (I'm assuming) to thank for this chapter.**

The next day, Harry felt remarkably better. Both his leg and his shoulder still hurt but the pain had subsided to more of a dull throb. He climbed out of bed with some difficulty and headed for the shower.

After an interesting shower where he was only able to one arm and stand on one leg, he got dressed which proved to be an even more challenging feat. He walked into the large sitting area where the rest of his team (Scotty had returned late last night) and Luke were sitting eating breakfast.

"Morning" He said cheerfully, walking over to the kitchenette and pouring himself some coffee.

"Someone's in a good mood." Joey grinned.

"Oh, Harry, you shouldn't've gotten dressed by yourself. It puts way to much stress on your shoulder." Julia walked over to him, taking his coffee from him and placing it on the coffee table, "Go and sit down I'll bring your food to you."

Wanting to avoid another fight, he did as he was told. He sat in a comfortable winged back chair and picked up his coffee mug with his non- slinged arm and took a sip.

"So, Boss, how's it feel to be back at Hogwarts?" Joey asked.

"Dunno." Harry shrugged, thoughtful, "I thought I'd have a panic attack or something when I came back but I guess almost dying in that last op fixed that."

"Yeah, I guess nearly dying would put things in perspective, huh?" Scotty chuckled along with the rest of the group.

"I don't know why you lot think its funny." Julia sniffed, bringing Harry a tray of food, complete with napkin and cutlery.

"Thanks, Julia. I—" Harry stopped, looking at his plate, "Why is my food already cut up?"

"Using a knife requires two hands, you only have one." Julia explained, sitting on the couch next to Luke. The team snickered at her mothering tone and Harry's incredulous face.

"What am I? Four?" Harry asked, "I'm perfectly capable of using my wand to cut my food."

"Trust me. This is easier. I have four brothers who have all lacked the use of an arm at some point or another. I think I know what I'm doing." Remembering his promise to himself to keep the peace, he picked up his fork and began eating rather angrily while ignoring the looks he was getting from the team.

The rest of breakfast passed without incident and soon it was time for classes. The team had agreed, without Harry's input, that there would be at least one of them with him at all times (the exception being if he was with Hermione or Ginny). They had also divided up the time slots of who was on 'Harry Duty' at what time. Harry strongly suspected that Julia was behind this and the rest of the guys just went along with it for fear of setting of her temper and because it gave them something to do.

"Right, so Harry, Scott and T.J. will be with you until lunch, then Joey, Rolf and I will take over from there." Julia explained, writing this down on several slips of paper that she passed out so as to have everyone know the schedule.  
"I don't need three people with me all the time," Harry finally complained, "especially if I'm going to be in classes, surrounded by students."

"Well, lets do this for today, then tomorrow, we'll see, okay?" Julia compromised, shocking Harry.

"Okay." He nodded and began his 'walk' to class, with Scotty and T.J in tow.

"Hey T.J., are you planning on going any where after your shift today?" Harry asked him in an undertone.

"No. I was planning on hanging around today. Why?"

"Well, I need some help with a little project I'm working on, and I wondered if you'd be willing to give me a hand." Harry opened the door to the DADA classroom.

"Sure, boss, what do you need?" T.J. responded, with a mischievous smile

Classes went well that day and it wasn't till his planning period after lunch that something noteworthy happened. The majority of the seventh years, save the Slytherin ones, were in his classroom, relaxing. Rolf and Luna were discussing the latest issue of the Quibbler, Julia and Joey were arguing as Lavender, Dean, Seamus, the Patil twins, and a few others looked on, while Harry was talking to Ginny, Neville, Hannah Abbott, Hermione and Ginny's friends. With a loud BANG the door flew open and a large, brown haired man rushed in.

"Julie Beans!" he cried upon seeing Julia, whose face instantly brightened upon seeing him.

"Noah!" She exclaimed, running to his outstretched arms, "What are you doing here?"

"A mate of mine at work said someone on your team had gotten blown up, and I didn't hear from you saying you were alright, so I took some time off and came to see how you were doing." Noah explained.

"Why does everyone think Julia's been blown up?" Harry asked the room at large as Julia and Noah broke apart, "It was me, and it was a gunshot."

"Oh, sorry." Noah, looked slightly shameful for having made such an entrance and having been so worried for nothing.

"Everyone, this is Noah, my oldest brother. Noah, this is Harry, Joey, and Rolf. The rest of seventh years whose names I don't know." Julia made introductions, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Oh, Jules, Mum wanted you to owl as soon as you got the chance." Noah told her after the two siblings had caught up a bit.

"Okay, I'll go do that now, do you think you'll be okay?" She asked, nervously.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure Harry and the gang will take good care of me" Noah rolled his eyes at his sister. She glared at him and walked out of the room. Noah laughed and walked over to where Harry and Joey were talking with Ginny, Hermione, and Neville.

"That was quite the entrance, Noah," Harry grinned, shaking his hand, " Luke did something similar but yours was definitely better."

"Luke's here?" Noah asked. Joey nodded as conversation began to pick back up, slowly. Noah scowled.

"You don't like him?" Harry asked, slightly taken aback, Luke seemed decent enough, granted he had only met the bloke a few days earlier.

"I like him well enough." Noah said.

"But…?" Joey pushed.

"But I don't think he's good enough for Jules." He shrugged.

"Do brothers ever think the bloke their sister is dating is good enough?" Harry asked.

"Fair enough. But he seems a little to full of himself." He explained.

"Does Julia know you don't like this Luke bloke?" Neville asked.

"I think so. But I'm not sure. She's the type to delude herself into thinking we love the stuffing out of him." Noah grinned as the group chuckled. They continued to discuss Luke and his pros and con's (a category that Joey had a lot of things to add to), until Julia came back, with Luke in tow.

"Look who came to visit!" Julia told Luke excitedly, gesturing to her brother. As they shook hands, Harry noticed that it looked like they were trying to break the other's hand.

"Julie Beans?" Joey raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, don't ask. I've got four brothers, each as intent on embarrassing me into oblivion as the next and horrible nicknames are only the start of it." Julia crossed her arms, giving her brother a pointed look.

"Sorry Jules, but when you're the only girl and the most sensitive, its just too easy." Noah grinned. Julia rolled her eyes at him.

"So, Julia, why don't you, Noah, and Luke go walk around the lake or something and catch up." Harry suggested, "I'll be fine. I've got Rolf, Joey and a classroom of seventh years here." He said when she looked ready to argue.

"Fine. Just send me a Patronus if you need me." She said, following Noah and Luke out of the room.

"Okay. I will." Harry said, as she turned the corner, "not." He added as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Henry, that wasn't very nice" Joey mock-scolded him.

"Yeah, well, I'm just sick of her acting like I could drop dead at any moment and she's the only one who can save me. Its ridiculous!" Harry fumed, momentarily forgetting that he had an audience."

"It's the healer-complex." Rolf shrugged.

"The what?" Hermione asked.

"Healer-complex. Those who are healers feel like they're the only ones who can solve the problem. Think about it: she's got four brothers—"

"Hard to forget when she reminds you every fifteen seconds or so." Joey interjected.

"—All of whom frequently got hurt in their childhood." Rolf continued as though there had been no interruption. "They all went to her because she was the only one who knew how to heal. She's been ingrained with the healer-complex all her life."

"That's very insightful, Rolf. It sounds like a type of Wrackspurt. You don't suppose that all healers have this complex, do you?" Luna asked him, eyes wide…er than usual.

"No. I don't think so. I would guess that most healers are normal witches and wizards, but there are a few who catch the complex." Rolf frowned

"You should write an article on it for _The Quibbler_! I'm sure Daddy would love it." Luna exclaimed. The whole classroom seemed to be watching this exchange, not entirely sure what to make of it.

"That would be an honor. I love _The Quibbler_. Started reading it during the war, and never stopped! Well, I did for a bit. When they were printing all that Anti-Harry rubbish." Rolf shrugged as everyone went back to what they had been doing before the Noah had burst in.

A short while later, T.J. entered and walked over to where Harry and Ginny had been talking quietly, after extracting themselves from their group.

"Hey, boss, I have a few answers to your little dilemma." T.J. began cryptically; referring to the project Harry had given him earlier that day.

"Already? That's great!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, there's this spell, that if done properly, can turn a mirror into a communication device." He said.

"Yes. I'm familiar with it. My godfather had one." Harry nodded.

"Yes, well, I figured that it could work." T.J. spoke quietly, as if the walls were trying to listen in, "Assuming the two of you carry around mirrors."

"I don't." Harry said just as quietly.

"Nor do I." Ginny added, "If I need a mirror, I go to the loo."

"Well, that's what I figured, boss," T.J. began to look very excited, "So I did a bit more digging and found a spell that can turn a photograph into a two-way communication device. Just like the mirror, only when you aren't using it, it's a photo!"

"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Ginny.

"I agree. I always have a photo on me." Harry grinned.

"Awesome! So, if you two want to each give me a photo, I'll get to work and create it for you." T.J. beamed at them. Harry wasn't sure if it was the excitement of getting to do an experiment testing his idea or that he was genuinely happy for them, but T.J. seemed to be practically bouncing off the walls.

Harry pulled out a photo from his pocket. It was of Ginny and him sitting by the lake during his sixth year and it was one of his favorite pictures. They were sitting under a tree, smiling and laughing and every now and then, Ginny would kiss him on the cheek. He duplicated this photo twice with a quick jab of his wand and handed the copies to T.J.

"There you go. Thanks a million for this, mate." Harry smiled at him.

"Oh no problem. Its my pleasure, really." T.J. waved off the thanks, "I love having a problem and researching it to find the answer. Plus that library is very impressive." And with that, he walked from the room.

"Is he always that Hermione-ish?" Ginny asked him.

Harry grinned "Not typically. He goes through phases, though he is always reading."

"Ah well. At least he's putting his brains to good use." She smiled as Harry laughed.

"So helping us find a way to communicate while I'm at training qualifies as 'good use'?''

"Indeed it does."

The rest of the day passed with no incident. It was only the next morning, waiting for their first class, that something interesting happened. Joey, Scotty, and Julia were on 'Harry Duty' that morning, which also meant that Luke and Noah were there. They had been sitting, chatting about the day a head when a man who looked as much like Joey as Harry did James Potter, walked in. He had the same brown eyes and dark hair; his eyes even had the same old joking glint in them. He could be no one other than Joseph Robert Collins, Sr.

"Dad!" Joey exclaimed, rushing forward to hug his father.

"BJ! How are you, son?" his father asked, in mid-hug.

"I'm sorry, BJ?" Julia asked incredulously as their hug ended.

"What? You guys don't call him BJ?" Professor Collins asked, looking slightly confused.

"We do now." Harry grinned, chuckling a bit at the look on Joe—_BJ's_ face.

"Oh, well, sorry, Joey." Professor Collins looked sheepishly at his son.

"So. What does 'BJ' stand for?" Scotty asked.

"Well, Joey's the youngest and when he was a baby, his brother and sister called him 'Baby Joseph' which was then shortened to 'Baby Joey' and eventually and finally shortened to 'BJ'" Professor Collins shrugged, "Anyway, to avoid confusion, you can call me 'Collins'. But that begs the question: who are you all?"

As they made their introductions, Harry noticed how similar Joey and his father were. From their mannerisms to their joking style, it was clear that Joey was a virtual carbon copy of his father.

"So, Harry, Joey tells me that you've been forbidden from writing to your girlfriend while you're at training." Collins said, bluntly.

"Yeah. Its true." Harry nodded.

"You know, they did the same thing to me." Collins nodded as Harry looked at him, bewildered, "Wanted to see how long I could do it before I blew a fuse. Lasted two months before I figured out a loop-hole."

"Really? Do tell." Harry sat forward on his chair, listening intently.

"Well, they said _I_ couldn't send letters; everyone else could. So I wrote letters and gave them to my partner who would enclose them in the envelopes to his girlfriend who worked with mine and she acted as messenger. It was quite a roundabout way of doing things, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing." He grinned. "That's not a bad idea." Harry nodded, deep in thought. He was so deep in thought, in fact, that he didn't notice when Julia stood up.

"Well, come on!" She said exasperatedly.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Collins is back. That means we have to leave and go back to training." Julia stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. That's right, isn't it? Well then. We'll leave at lunch." Harry decided, "Gives us time to pack our things and say good-bye."

Fortunately for Harry, Ginny had a free period before lunch that day, so they spent it saying a rather lengthy good-bye. She walked him to the Entrance Hall, where the rest of his team was waiting. She turned to him just out of earshot of the group, who was talking amongst themselves, and saying their good-byes to Luke and Noah.

"Promise me you'll be safe?" Ginny told him.

"Ginny—" He groaned.

"No, Harry, I'm serious. I want you to look after yourself. Even if it means doing what that obnoxious Julia girl wants you to do." She gave him that hard, blazing look and he knew he had no choice but to agree.

"Okay. I will try my absolute hardest." Harry nodded solemnly in agreement as T.J. ran up.

"Boss! I did it! I figured it out." He exclaimed, brandishing the two photos Harry had given him the day before.

"Brilliant! How do they work?" Harry asked. T.J quickly explained how to work them and ended by handing one to Harry and one to Ginny.

"I'm really glad we figured this out." T.J. said, "Boss always got in a bit of a mood when we'd get mail and he couldn't."

Ginny giggled a bit, "Then I'm glad we figured it out too! It was very nice meeting you, T.J. and I hope you lot come back to teach soon."

"I agree. It was fun meeting all of the boss's friends." He smiled and shook her hand, before turning to Harry: "Its time to go, Harry."

Giving Ginny one last hug, Harry followed his team out, onto the grounds to gather around their lampshade Portkey that would return them to the training camp.

**FINALLY! You don't even know how long I worked on this chapter. I did give you a special treat because I made you wait so long. I gave you two of the three ways Harry and Ginny will communicate during his absences. The third will be revealed during Ginny's Christmas holiday. Please review and tell me what you think, your ideas for what the 3****rd**** way could be, ideas for the story, favorite animal (mine switches between monkeys and dogs), or anything else you can think of! Reviews and feedback are what keeps me inspired and writing. That and when you, my faithful readers (cough*FriendofMolly*cough) who badger and guilt me into writing, so PLEASE review!**


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